The Chosen Ones: Seorsus
by lamaland
Summary: What if there was more to James Potter than what we've seen so far? Not only a Wizard, but a Shadowhunter, too. But this is not his story. Lucie Redcliff, his daughter and Harry's twin sister, grew up with James' Shadowhunter relatives. What happens when she turns eleven and has to realise that she's not only half Angel, but also a Downworlder, set to attend Hogwarts School...
1. Prologue

Prologue

'

It was well past midnight when baby Joshua got her out of bed. Jodie hadn't slept much either way and after the third child, she had gotten used to the nocturnal rises. Not that she wanted another one; three were just enough.

After caring for little Josh, Jodie wandered around the deserted Institute. Most of the Shadowhunters were out - including her husband. There was quite a big gathering of Demons at the moment, so everyone was needed; except for those who had the future generation of Nephilim to look after and those who were injured, of course. Jodie was both.

So here she was, again. Alone at night, waiting for the others to come back. As much as she loved her children, it was her natural instinct to go along and fight with her fellow Shadowhunters. Waiting had never suited her.

Hearing a flap of wings behind her, Jodie spun around to face the window of the corridor she was standing in. She recognised the owl immediately with its brown feathers sprinkled with white here and there. Yet still, she couldn't believe her eyes.

As she stepped closer to the glass separating her from the familiar creature, the owl gestured to the right, its dark eyes gleaming in the moonlight outside. Following the owl's movements, Jodie laid eyes on one of the side exits of the Institute.

Without a second thought, she rushed through the door and out into the park that surrounded the London Institute. Though the moon didn't give much light, Jodie's eyes immediately spotted the silhouette next to the giant oak tree. He was not alone. In his arms, a small child was sound asleep.

"Daniel?" was the only thing that came out of Jodie's mouth as she came closer.

"It's James, now," replied the man. "Permanently, you know."

His remark ripped her out of her trance.

"What the Hell do you think you're doing her?"

"I've missed you, too, sis."

James stepped out from under the tree.

"Oh, don't you dare call me that, after all you've done!" Jodie halted, now careful to keep her distance. "You do know that you're not only putting yourself in danger right now, but also me and my family? Do you have any idea what the Council would do if they found out you were here?"

"I know, I'm not allowed to make contact with you or any of the others...," he paused. "But I had to see you."

"Clearly."

James sighed.

"Look, I'm well aware that you must be terribly made at me. But I do hope you know that I never wanted to hurt you - I just had to distance myself from the Clave, not my family."

"Unfortunately, these two go hand in hand as we are not family anymore, James Potter!"

"Jodie-"

"Why are you here?" She stared him down.

"I need your help."

"Of course you do. But I'm not sorry to say that you're in no position to ask for it." Jodie turned around to leave but was stopped by James' hand on her arm.

"Jodie, please... don't you want to at least meet her?"

"Her?"

Jodie's gaze fell on the small bundle in James' arms.

"Yes, this is Lucy. Your niece."

"I thought as much." Her voice had gotten a soft tone.

The little girl stirred in her father's arms, irritated by the cold night air.

Her face was almost completely covered by auburn curls.

"She looks just like her mother," said James as he pulled her closer causing Lucy to relax and fall back into her deep slumber.

"Well, I can clearly see some of the Redcliff traits," Jodie smiled faintly while pulling back a few of Lucy's curls. "Why did you bring her here?"

"To keep her safe." A shadow crossed James' features.

"Safe from what?" Jodie bit down a snarky comment about the Wizarding World.

"I'm sure you've heard about a dark Wizard gaining more and more power in Britain?"

"Yes."

"Well, there is word of a prophecy-"

"A prophecy? Daniel, what have you gotten yourself into?"

"Let me explain." James sighed again. "The prophecy is about a boy who can defeat You-Know-Who. This boy is supposed to be Harry, Lucy's twin brother."

Twins? Jodie didn't want to believe what she had just heard. Twins were never a good sign, especially in the Redcliff line.

"And now?" was all she asked.

James had a hard time looking his older sister in the eye.

"We have to go into hiding - Lily, Harry and I."

"What about her?" Jodie gestured to the small girl.

He looked down at the ground.

"I was hoping I could leave her with you for a while."

"Daniel," it was her turn to sigh. "I don't want to be pulled into any Wizarding business."

"You won't be, I promise," he replied. "Lucy isn't mentioned in the prophecy, as far as I know, and I wish to know her safe."

"I don't know..."

"Please, Jodie, just until this whole thing is over. I don't want to put her in unnecessary danger."

"And you think it is wise to separate twins?"

"It won't be long."

Jodie looked him sternly in the eye. After what seemed like an eternity, she let out another exasperated sigh.

"Fine."

"Really?" James wanted to hug his sister.

"Yes," she paused. "But under my conditions. She will be treated like a Nephilim child and she will receive her markings. She has Shadowhunter blood after all."

"If that's what it takes, I won't object."

"Good."

They remained silent for a moment staring at each other. Jodie hadn't seen him in such a long time. He looked different, she thought. Thinner, his wiry form now more prominent due to the lack of training. He wore glasses as well, no longer having runes to enhance his eyesight. What stood out the most however was the worry that clouded his features.

James was the first to break the silence.

"What are you going to tell the Council?"

"That the little girl was lying on my doorstep with a letter-" She cracked a half-smile. "-which I burnt immediately out of anger."

"Sounds like you." Her brother let out a short laugh. "Thank you."

"I'm doing this for her, not for you."

"I know."

James cleared his throat after a while and handed over the small bundle to his sister who pulled her niece close.

"She's a cute little one."

"That she is - she has your eyes after all."

"Our eyes." Jodie replied without lifting her gaze.

"Yes, our eyes." Her brother nodded.

"James?"

He looked at her in surprise.

"Be careful."

"I will."

And with that he apparated and vanished from sight.

* * *

Jodie knew immediately what had happened when a member of the Council knocked on her office door five months after her niece had arrived at the Institute. The little girl had been screaming and crying the whole night before.

Her little brother had managed to get himself killed, thanks to the Wizarding World. There had been no survivors in that house.

'

'

**A/N:**

**Hi everyone! This is my first ever ****_real _****fanfic, so here goes nothing...**

**Just a fair warning, this story is going to differ from canon in many ways. As much as I've figured out by now, you can classifie this as an AU crossover or fusion fanfic. Call it whatever you want!**

**This fanfic is placed during the time that Harry is at Hogwarts. As far as the Shadow World is concerned, the story starts a bit more than a decade after the Dark War, so the timelines of both fandoms are a bit mixed up.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor Mortal Instruments.**

**If you're interested in how this will continue, keep on reading and I'm excited to have you as my reader! As English is not my first language, I'm sorry for any obvious grammar mistakes I make. I'm always up for honest feedback and reviews. Let me know what you think...**


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_Warriors_

'

"You're slacking, Lucie! How do you want to become a proper Shadowhunter if you can't even maintain the right fighting stance?"

Lucie rolled her eyes at Abigail while she wiped her forehead, pushing stray strands of her hair behind her ears. Her oldest cousin was towering over her, not a hair out of place of her intricate braids, not a bead of sweat on her brown skin.

"What? I'm only eleven, what do you expect? For me to do back flips while fighting off five people at once? What level were you on when you were my age?"

"Because it's the back flip that makes the Shadowhunter!"

"Oh, shut up, Kayden! I was only exaggerating!"

She boxed him in the arm and he tried to box her right back. He was the spitting image of his sister, just shorter and less polished.

"Stop it, you two!" Abigail looked at her younger brother and cousin in exasperation. "And Lucie, it doesn't matter where I was when I was eleven, because you started training earlier, remember?"

Lucie was about to respond when Joshua piped in from the corner where he was sitting.

"Yeah, Abi, what's up with that, by the way? Why was she allowed to start earlier? Why can't I start yet?" He was shorter than all three of them, but made up for it with his loud voice.

"Because-"

"Because I'm more talented than you." Lucie interrupted and stuck her tongue out towards Joshua.

"Hey!"

"That's definitely not the reason!"

"Then what is?"

"Er-"

"Abigail?"

"In here, Mum." She had never looked more relieved to be interrupted. "What is it?"

Jodie walked in and took a look around the room. Lucie's aunt was a tall woman with olive skin and smooth brown hair that she usually wore pulled back out of her face.

"How is it going with the training?"

Her eldest child snorted.

"Well, Lucie is being lazy, Kayden the smarty-pants he always is and Josh, he's making unwanted commentary."

"Hey! Just because you've been on your first hunt and can handle the Angel light sword thingies-"

"Seraph blades"

"Whatever!" Joshua puffed his chest. "You don't get to command us around!"

Abigail looked at her mother pleadingly.

"You see what I have to deal with?"

Jodie sighed.

"Alright, listen up!" The three in question stopped their bickering immediately. "Stop making it such a hard time for your sister. She's more advanced than you are and clearly a lot more mature," she frowned at them. "Which means you can learn a lot from her. Abigail is not only your sister, but also your mentor for now. So treat her as one, understood?"

The cousins nodded in unison.

"Good! Now-"

"Ms Redcliff?"

"Yes, Mr Branwell?"

Jodie turned around to answer the secretary of the Institute.

"There is a visitor waiting for you outside."

"Outside?" She furrowed her brow in confusion.

"Er, yes. He...er," he leaned in closer to the head of the Institute lowering his voice. "He can't see the entrance on his own and, er, we weren't sure whether to let him or not."

They exchanged looks before Jodie murmured something only he could understand. Mr Branwell just nodded in response before leaving the room.

"All right then, you can continue with your training. And no bickering!"

"Of course, Aunt Jodie," said Lucie seriously.

"Yeah, yeah" was Kayden's response which earned him his cousin's elbow between the ribs.

* * *

Lucie had been living at the Institute for over ten years now. She grew up among her cousins Abigail, Kayden and Joshua as if she were their sister - although she didn't quite fit into the family picture as her appearance was quite different from her cousins and the grown Shadowhunters.

Red was an uncommon hair colour for a Nephilim, and her complexion was much lighter than even her Aunt Jodie's. At least she grew as tall as the others and had inherited the hazel eyes that ran through the entire Redcliff line. Still, Lucie knew from a young age that she was different not just in her looks. But like her cousins she was a Redcliff with a Redcliff name. And so she was raised to be one.

At an early age - earlier than most Nephilim - she started her training. Lucie was never really told why, but she had her suspicions. It had always been more than obvious when Council officials observed her training sessions; when sometimes murmured, sometimes shouted conversations were held in her aunt and uncle's office; when everyone always seemed to keep an eye on her.

It had become every Shadowhunter's duty in the Institute to insure that her Nephilim side rooted itself deeply within her being. To the others she was a ticking bomb - having Wizards for parents was dangerous, for her and for the Shadowhunters. And nobody wanted things to go down the same path as they had with her father.

That was why the Council and every Redcliff feared the year she'd turn eleven. And why Jodie knew exactly who was standing outside the Institute waiting to be invited in.

After all, there had only been about a hundred or so letters over the past week.

* * *

There was a soft knock on the door.

"Come in, Lucie."

After some hesitation, the door opened and the young Nephilim stepped into the office. She was greeted by the familiar faces of Aunt Jodie, Uncle Matthew and a member of the Council - and the unfamiliar face of a bearded old man in a strange purple costume. The Council representative had strong features and always wore a firm expression on her face which already held many wrinkles, few from age, more from stress. The silver-haired man had, too, many wrinkles, though his seemed to come from old age and smiling too much.

"You wanted to see me?"

There was a short silence before her uncle cleared his throat. He was the tallest in the room, towering over all of them, heavily muscled under dark skin. His black eyes always wore a kind expression, especially when they were set on his niece.

"Yes. There is something we need to talk to you about. Why don't you sit down?" He gestured to the ensemble of chairs in the middle of the room.

The five of them remained silent as they settled themselves. Lucie could feel the eyes of both the Council Member and the old man on her the whole time. Both their gazes were piercing, yet the man's was softer and strangely kind. Since her aunt didn't make any move to start the conversation, it was Uncle Matthew who again raised his voice.

"This is Ms Ashburn of the Council. She is the Head of-" He shot a glance in the old man's direction. "- Wizarding affairs. And this is Mr Dumble-"

"Professor."

"Sorry?" asked Uncle Matthew visibly irritated.

"It's Professor Dumbledore."

The old man had a twinkle in his eyes when he spoke, but Lucie was far too distracted by the mention of the Councillor's department to be reassured by the smile he sent her way.

"Yes, well, this is Professor Dumbledore," continued her uncle. "And he is-"

"I am the Headmaster of Hogwarts, School for Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Lucie could only gape at him before panic overcame her. This meeting could only mean one thing. Aunt Jodie, seeing her discomfort, overcame her own and laid a reassuring hand on her niece's knee.

"Lucie, did you notice any strange things happening over the past couple of weeks?"

"What - what are you trying to say?"

"Lucie-"

"No, I'm not a Witch. I can't be."

"As much as we all wish there was a choice, there isn't," it was Ms Ashburn's turn to talk. "You either have magic or you don't. And you, Lucie, you have it - unfortunately."

Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"If I may say so, being a Witch is nothing unfortunate; and nothing to be ashamed or afraid of either."

"And as you may know, _Professor_, we Nephilim have a good reason to be cautious when it comes to Wizardry!"

"These you may have, but that does not mean you should reject Shadowhunters born with magic."

"It is not a question of rejecting -"

"Enough!" Jodie's voice was unusually load as she had a sense of déjà-vu. "You're frightening her."

Lucie was fighting back the tears.

"I'm so sorry, Aunt Jodie. It's all my fault!"

"No, it's not, Lucie. Don't ever say that!"

"But I hear you fighting all the time. Because of me. I destroy the family!"

"Look at me, Lucie." Jodie laid a hand on her niece's cheek trying to calm her down. "That you have magic doesn't mean you are any less part of our family. You are a Redcliff and you are a Nephilim."

Lucie hesitated. "So what happens now?"

"You will attend Hogwarts," stated Ms Ashburn.

"It is a wonderful school filled with children like you. You will learn a lot there and you can finally meet other Wizards and Witches." the Wizard in the room tried to convince Lucie who didn't look very thrilled about going to a magic school.

She turned to her aunt. "Can't I just stay here? Do I have to go to that school?"

"I'm afraid you do. Wizard magic isn't like Nephilim blood. If you ignore your powers, you will lose control of them," Ms Ashburn explained, crossing her arms in front of her. "The last Shadowhunter whose powers were denied went mad before she destroyed a good part of the Institute burying herself in the rubble.

"What a great way to encourage her," murmured Uncle Matthew while rubbing circles on Lucie's back.

"Is that true?", Lucie asked, her eyes wide.

"Sadly, yes," Jodie told her. "That was my father's twin sister."

"That will definitely not happen to you when you come to Hogwarts where you will learn to control and advance your magic," Professor Dumbledore said.

"It's ok, Lucie. Kayden told me what occurred during training last week." Her niece wanted to say something, but Jodie cut her off. "As I said, it's ok. I know we've all been hoping for a different outcome, but we'll make it work, I promise. What happened with your father will not happen to you... You just always have to remember who you are."

Lucie nodded hesitantly. A Redcliff. A Shadowhunter. She was and always will be.

"And that is why Professor Dumbledore, the Council and your uncle and I have come to a few agreements so you can continue your training with us: You will come home every holiday and also every second weekend. There will be a permanent portal installed for you through which you can travel back and forth and you will get a room for your training."

"A few of the teachers are already in the know and the Head of the House you get sorted into will be informed as well."

"House?" Lucie's head was spinning from all the new information.

"All will be explained when you get to Hogwarts," the Professor smiled down to the little Witch. "You will enjoy it there, I am sure of it."

Uncle Matthew snorted.

"Well, then. Shall I escort you and your family to Diagon Alley where you can buy all your school supplies?"

"No, thank you," Aunt Jodie replied firmly. "But I think we'll manage it on our own."

"Alright, then," said the Wizard, smile and twinkle never fading. He turned to the Clave representative. "About the name?"

"Ah, yes. She will be going to Hogwarts as Lucie Radcliffe," Ashburn mentioned matter-of-factly, handing Jodie a document with the seal of the Council on it. "We chose the name to cover up any connection to the ancient Redcliff name, in case any old Wizarding family could recognize it... but it's close enough to the original so that Lucie here doesn't forget her place..."

The person in question could only try to process everything before quickly saying goodbye to Ms Ashburn and the Headmaster.

"See you at Hogwarts!" Dumbledore waved goodbye.

'

'

**A/N:**

_"As a child you would wait  
A__nd watch from far away  
__But you always knew that you'd be the one  
That work while they all play"_

_Warriors by Imagine Dragons_


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_All We Know_

'

The next day, Jodie took her niece to Diagon Alley.

She remembered the place from the times when her brother had been going to Hogwarts and had dragged her along to show her the _marvelous_ Wizarding World. They weren't very fond memories – she'd always complain about everything and hate the fact that her brother had to leave for yet another year. Never would she admit that she might have been a little envious of her Wizard brother; he went on this fantastical adventure while she was stuck at the Institute worrying along with the rest of the Redcliff family.

"Aunt Jodie?"

"Hm?"

They were close to the pub they had to go through to Diagon Alley.

"How come Uncle Matthew is so calm about this whole-," she gestured with her small hands. "-thing?"

"This thing, hm?" She smiled faintly. "Well, first of all, your uncle is an Angel when it comes to complicated situations. And second of all, he was there from the very beginning... we grew up together; his parents had died in the war against Valentine Morgenstern and my family took him and his sister in. We didn't get along very well at first, always bickering like you and your cousins. But when Daniel went off to Hogwarts, he was there. And he was there, when your father decided to take off this runes and leave the Nephilim... When Matthew got home that night and saw you in my arms, he never questioned my decision to take you in. He just held you close while I went off to deal with the Council," Jodie laughed. "Plus, he's an orphan like you, he knows what it's like – he would never abandon you because of the magic in your blood."

Lucie looked up at her aunt who had the slightest hint of tears in her eyes – which was odd, because Aunt Jodie never cried.

"I like Uncle Matthew, very much."

"Yeah?," Jodie was now _really _laughing, which again she rarely did. "That's good, cause I like him, too, _very much_."

She ruffled her nieces hair as the Leaky Cauldron came into view.

"Here we are."

"That's it?" Lucie scrunched her nose.

"No, no, it's inside there," Jodie took her niece by the hand. "Now, remember. There will be a lot of strange people. So, try not to stare at them, ok? Act Mundane, not like a-," she lowered her voice. "-Shadowhunter."

Lucie nodded.

"Got your runes all covered up?"

"Isn't that question a little late?"

"Lucie..."

"Yes, I have." She held her arm up in defence.

"Good! Cause you'll have to do this on your own every day from now on!"

Lucie tried not to roll her eyes.

"Alright, let's go in."

With her niece right by her side, Jodie made her way through the pub to the brick wall at the very back. Before them, a woman in long robes – clearly a Witch – with her son tagging along tapped on a certain brick which made the wall shuffle aside to give them passage to Diagon Alley.

'

It was crowded.

The narrow alley was packed with Wizards and Witches with their colourful robes and pointed hats. Lucie had seen many warlocks before with varying Demonic features, Werewolves morphing into their wolf form, Vampires showing off sharp fangs. But this, Wizarding people, was a whole other category of Downworlder. They resembled Mundanes in every aspect of their appearance, yet they were so different from them. They weren't harmless. Lucie half expected one of them to whirl around and point at their hidden runes. But that wasn't possible. One, Wizards and Witches didn't know Nephilim existed. Two, they weren't sighted, they couldn't see through their glamour.

Still, Jodie unintentionally pulled Lucie closer. And together, they tried to get through to the shops they needed to.

First stop was a high-towering white marble building with a grand staircase. It was hard to miss Gringott's Bank even though Jodie hadn't been there for over twenty years.

The two Nephilim entered the bank and went to the nearest counter to get their Mundane money exchanged into whatever currency the Wizarding World dealt in. Being used to Downworlders of all kinds, Lucie kept a straight face as they were greeted by a rather grumpy goblin.

Still, they were glad when they were able to escape his scrutinizing gaze and get the next things done on the list. They had to buy a set of those strange robes every Witch and Wizard seemed to wear, all the books and equipment and, of course, a wand. A pet, the two Shadowhunters agreed on immediately, was not needed.

For Lucie, it was an unusual feeling, having such loose-hanging clothes since she only ever wore training clothes or jeans and a t-shirt. At least, she didn't have to wear a skirt. But still, how was one supposed to fight in long robes?

All the while, Lucie noticed here and there children that looked a similar age going along with their parents. She could easily see the excitement in their faces, but there was one boy, in clothes that reminded more of rags, who caught her eye as he seemed as lost as she felt.

'

Getting a wand was the last thing to do. Jodie as well as her niece couldn't help but feel anxious about visiting Ollivander's. The shop was as dark and dusty as Jodie remembered when Daniel had bought his wand. The shop owner himself hadn't changed, just become greyer – if that was even possible.

He immediately brought out wand after wand which Lucie had to hold and wave around with. Since it was the wand that chose the Witch, the little Shadowhunter seemed to be an unwanted case as wand after wand either provoked no reaction whatsoever or the smashing of a window.

Mr Ollivander was as clueless as the two Nephilim in the room until his face seemed to light up with a new idea.

"Well," he muttered. "Since none of the usual materials are fit for you, we must try it with something special." The old Wizard eyed the little girl in front of him sharply before he went to the far back of his shop where a wooden case was sitting on a shelf all for itself.

When he opened the case, both Lucie and her aunt gasped.

Wands with their slender form already gave the faintest impression of the stele used by every Shadowhunter to draw runes on their skin. But the wand lying in front of them looked – even though it's wooden material – exactly like one, except for its darker colour. The carved wood was a charcoal grey and the wand had a faint white glow to it. It curved and twisted like the stele Lucie knew so well into a tip of pure translucent metal.

Even before she touched it, she knew this was the one. As soon as her fingers curled around the smooth wood, there was a rush of air through the shop and the glow of the wand became stronger while it hummed slightly in the Witch's hands.

"A rare choice indeed," Mr Ollivander commented. "This wand is the only one of its kind – a family heirloom, I sadly cannot take craftsmanship for this unique piece... I thought it would stay in my shop until it would be passed on to the next generation of wand makers... Twelve inches, blackthorn wood, unyielding. The core material is very rare, it is called-"

"Adamas"

Mr Ollivander looked at Jodie in surprise.

"Yes, indeed. Have you come across such material before?"

"Er, yes," Jodie looked at Lucie while trying to find a believable story to tell. "We have a piece of adamas that gets passed on in our family, sort of a family heirloom as well."

"I see," Mr Ollivander said, holding back further questions - as did the two Shadowhunters.

The only plausible explanation for adamas to be in the hands of a Wizard could be that it was given to his family many, many years ago by who knows who. It couldn't have been crafted by a Wizard or a Witch, only the Iron Sisters were capable of such a task. They did, however, notice that there were no runes or other Nephilim markings on the wand which relieved them greatly. So they could assume that the wand maker didn't know too much about the connection with the Shadowhunter World.

After a pregnant pause, Mr Ollivander continued to talk about the wand's core material.

"Adamas is a very hard metal, the hardest I've ever come across. In consequence, it needs a long time to break in and get accustomed to. It has a mind of its own..." He looked Lucie in the eye. "But once you make it yours, the wand will only work for you alone and enable you to do magic far beyond traditional charms." The weight in his words was equal to the weight of the wand in Lucie's hand.

As nobody knew what to say more, Aunt Jodie paid quickly and they left the shop. It was only as they came out of the Leaky Cauldron and began the walk back to the Institute that Jodie turned to her niece.

"Lucie, you cannot tell anyone what your wand is made of."

"Why not?"

"Because it's dangerous knowledge – if you tell any Witch or Wizard, some might be able to make the connection; and if you tell any Shadowhunter, especially a Council member, it would start an unwanted investigation that could endanger your cover."

"I can't even tell Kayden?"

Jodie sighed.

"I know you two tell each other everything but, Lucie, you are different, you've known that all your life. And with that comes certain advantages and disadvantages... I know, it's hard, and I hate that you have to go through the same thing my brother did, but... we'll make it through, together, I promise, with some sacrifices. Besides," she wrapped an arm around her niece's shoulders and they continued the walk back. "You and I are perfectly aware of what a terrible liar _and_ secret keeper Kayden is."

* * *

Lucie was in her room, packing. Aunt Jodie had offered to help, but she had declined. She didn't want any help, not with this.

And so the Witch-to-be was left alone with her thoughts as she tried to fit in all the robes, books and equipment. Who required so much stuff anyway?

Lucie had never had a lot of things; her room wasn't filled with books and comics like Joshua's was, her walls weren't plastered with Mundane posters and sketches of runes and weapons like Kayden's and her wardrobe wasn't filled to the brim with various types of different-patterned training pants and leather jackets like Abigail's. It wasn't that Aunt Jodie wouldn't gift her anything, Lucie just never had the desire to possess anything other than what she really needed.

That was why, when the trunk was all packed, Lucie noticed that there were hardly any personal items in it. Beside the package her aunt gave her that she should only open when she had arrived at Hogwarts. Just as she was running her fingers along the dark blue wrapping, trying to guess what was inside, her door burst open.

"Don't you ever knock, Kay?" Lucie turned around to see Kayden standing in the doorway.

"Is there a reason to?"

"This is my private space." Lucie had her hands on her hips.

"So?"

She rolled her eyes at her cousin who invited himself inside and flopped down on her bed next to her trunk. His curly black hair was standing out to all sides, like always. Uncle Matthew had often failed to convince Kayden to cut his afro short like he himself wore it. Lucie didn't mind it, it meant that she could keep on annoying him by ruffling through his curls.

"Do you mind?"

"What? I'm only paying visit to my cousin who so desperately wants to be alone with her miserable thoughts that she even _closed_ her bedroom door."

"Shut up, Kay. Why do you always have to overanalyze everything?"

"Always and everything are strong words, my dear Lucie" He puffed out his small chest. Lucie could only roll her eyes. "If you keep on doing that, you're eyeballs will fall out of their sockets in no time." Kayden shot her a disapproving look, doing his best to imitate Grandmother Redcliff who spent her old days in the family estate in Idris.

"Stop it!"

Lucie threw her comb in his direction which he effortlessly caught and tossed it into her open trunk.

"Don't you need this where you're going? You won't get away with your usual messy ponytail in that elitist school, will you?"

"Elitist school? More a school for freaks and simple Downworlders who think they're better than all the other species because they wave around with a wooden stick!" Lucie exclaimed. "Besides, you don't think Witches and Wizards do such _Mundane _things as combing your hair by hand? I bet they use their magic for that, too."

Kayden scoffed. "Don't they use the word Muggle, Lu?" he teased her.

"Don't lecture me, too! I've had enough from Aunt Jodie. I know what I'm and what I'm not supposed to do and say at Hogwarts."

"Speaking of Hogwarts," he wore a more serious expression now. "I have something to take with you."

Kayden handed her a framed photograph. It had been taken the morning after Kayden had gotten his first rune, the Voyance rune, on the back of his right hand. The ritual hadn't gone over too well, Kayden had gotten a case of the 'Nephilim flu' as they called it. The Redcliff family had stayed with him through the night. The next morning, the healer had found all six cramped together in one bed with a beaming recovered new Shadowhunter-in-training.

Lucie smiled as her fingers traced the familiar faces in the photograph, their happy expressions frozen in time.

"Something to remember us by."

"You're saying it as if I were moving to Edom." Lucie blinked back tears.

"You know I don't mean it like that. Just as a reminder where you belong."

It was Kayden's turn to blink vigorously.

"Promise me something, Kay", Lucie raised her eyes from the photograph to hold her cousin's stare. "Promise me, we won't drift apart like Aunt Jodie and my father did."

"I promise."

'

'

**A/N:**

_"Round and round and round we go  
__The chips will fall, and so it goes  
__And it's all out of our control  
__All we know is that we don't"_

_All We Know by Alessia Cara_


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_Castle_

'

"Did I understand you correctly?" Lucie asked her aunt doubtingly. "I'm supposed to run into that wall and it will lead me to this platform nine and three-quarters?"

The six Redcliffs were standing in the busy King's Cross Station between platform nine and ten. They stood huddled together, all of their runes covered up. The Shadowhunters felt quite uneasy as they were fully visible amidst so many Mundanes and most likely also Wizards and Witches bustling by. They had decided against using glamour to cover themselves up as it would have been quite peculiar if Lucie had suddenly appeared out of thin air to go onto the platform.

"Yes, that's what you have to do," confirmed Jodie.

"Are you sure?"

Jodie sighed. "Of course, I am sure. Otherwise, I would have said so.

"These Wizards sure are a dramatic bunch if they let their students run through a wall to get to a silly old train," Uncle Matthew grumbled.

Jodie shot him a look.

"Alright, I guess it's best if only Lucie and I go through there. We don't want to attract too much attention."

Lucie nodded and turned to the first in line, Joshua, to say her goodbyes. Her little cousin hugged her quickly and mumbled something about going to miss her. Lucie just held him tight before putting her arms around Abigail who was way taller than her.

"Don't have too much fun there", Abigail teased though she didn't look like she was joking.

"Ha ha, very funny, Abs" was Lucie's comment.

"My turn!" Kayden exclaimed as he pushed his sister out of the way.

"See you soon!" he just said as he embraced Lucie tightly.

Lucie was at the brink of tearing up again when she turned to Uncle Matthew who passed her trunk on to Aunt Jodie before he wrapped his much bigger and stronger arms around his niece and lifted her off the ground. He used the opportunity to twirl her around a couple of times like he always did whenever he caught Lucie off guard.

As he set her down again, he said, "It'll be alright, don't worry. You always have your home here with us." He bent down and whispered to Lucie: "I can't wait to see you throw a little magic around. Especially in the direction of those stuck-up Clave members."

Matthew laughed when seeing both Lucie and Jodie, who had of course heard every word, with shocked faces.

On a more serious note, he said: "May the Angel be with you."

"I think it's time we get on our way." Jodie took Lucie by the hand who took one last glance at her family before turning around.

They picked up their pace and both Nephilim squeezed their eyes shut as they reached the stone wall. Lucie was used to the feeling of passing through portals, but a firm wall made out of brick was a whole other story. They were both glad when they managed to reach the other end safely and landed on the infamous platform nine and three-quarters.

Hundreds of Witches and Wizards were bustling around, all students with their surrounding families. Some looked Lucie's age, they had to be first years as well. Many students still wore their Mundane clothes like Lucie while others had already put on the black school robes.

The two Shadowhunters made their way between all the children stowing away trunks and saying goodbye to their parents and siblings. Somewhere in the middle of the train, they lifted Lucie's trunk into a compartment and prepared to, themselves, say goodbye.

Jodie laid both hands on her niece's shoulders.

"Look at you, you've grown so much."

"I'm only eleven, Aunt Jodie. I'm nowhere near grown."

"Still, you've already achieved so much. I'm proud of how far you've made it in your training... and you will continue to succeed, I'm sure of it." Jodie caressed her niece's cheek.

Lucie had something different on her mind.

"How can I know that this time is different, that the same thing that happened to my father won't happen to me?"

"Because you know better..." Jodie paused. "And because we've all learned from the mistakes we've made last time."

"What mistakes?"

"I'll tell you in due time. Nothing to worry about now."

A loud whistle interrupted their conversation. Jodie immediately pulled Lucie close. Neither of them wanted to let go - but they had to eventually.

"I love you." Aunt Jodie said as Lucie climbed up into the train.

"I love you, too."

"Lucie?"

"Yes?" She leaned out of the compartment window.

"Be careful."

"I will."

The train began to move. Jodie followed Lucie with her eyes as she was carried fast and faster into the distance.

Jodie hoped by the Angel that Lucie had meant what she had said more than her father.

* * *

Lucie couldn't say she enjoyed the train ride. What a waste of time, she thought. She could've just taken a portal, but no, she had to be stuck on this train for hours with Witches and Wizards who were far too excited for their own good.

Luckily, she only had to sit through one round of introductions as she found her seat in one of the compartments. She soon turned her gaze out the window and didn't pay much attention to what the others were going about. The girl next to her with bushy brown hair tried a few times to direct questions her way, but Lucie managed to either answer with as few words as possible or with no words at all. So they soon continued their conversation without her about Hogwarts houses, Hogwarts classes, something called Quidditch and so on.

Sometime after noon, the girl and the round-faced boy across from Lucie got up to search for the boy's toad. Wizards do have strange pets, don't they? But she was glad the compartment was clearing out and she was left alone with her thoughts.

After a while though, Lucie started to become jittery. She wasn't used to just sitting around for so long. She started to list all the things she could've been doing instead of sitting in this bloody train. Training, for example, going for a run, drilling combat forms, drawing practice runes...

Lucie could try the latter, but she didn't want to risk a nosey Witch like the one who had been sitting beside her asking unwanted questions. So she opted for walking back and forth the length of the train. At the very end, after coming past a compartment filled with two boys, probably also first years, indulging on various sweets, Lucie leaned against the last storage space for trunks and looked out of the window and watched the landscape fly by.

She wondered if there was a way to get out onto the edge of the last carriage. Sure enough, there was a door leading outside, of course locked. Lucie looked over her shoulder. There was nobody around, the two boys were busy catching chocolate frogs or whatever that was.

Lucie quickly pulled out her stele and drew an opening rune on the lock. The rune lit up briefly before disappearing leaving no proof of it behind. Lucie opened the door and stepped outside onto the edge of the train, quickly shutting the door behind her.

The fresh air hit Lucie in the face and the wind tossed her curls around. The Shadowhunter rejoiced in the feeling of the train speeding through the distance with her on the far end, her hair blowing like a red flag amidst all the green around her.

She grabbed hold of the metal rods leading up to the roof of the train and swiftly climbed up. Her two feet rooted into the metal surface, Lucie stood up on the Hogwarts Express looking all the way to the first carriage where the steam came out to disappear into the clouds.

A wide grin spread on her face, she would get her training after all. Certainly not in the way Aunt Jodie would approve, but still. Nobody would see her up here, she was safe. And so she spent the remaining journey running on top of the train, jumping over the gaps until it began to get dark.

Slightly out of breath, Lucie made her descent back to her compartment where she, too, changed into her school robes, the feeling of freedom and serenity gone as she felt the heavy fabric weighing her down.

* * *

The little train station was crowded with students as they all made their way out of the train. Somewhere in the mass of black robes, a rather huge man whose face was almost completely covered by brown bushy hair and a massive beard called out all the first years.

Lucie, feeling lost among all those Wizards and Witches excitedly chatting away, followed the giant man who introduced himself as Hagrid. He led the bunch of new students down a narrow pathway which soon opened to a vast lake, it's water black in the night. The first years stopped in their tracks as they laid eyes upon the castle sitting high on the hill across the other side of the lake. Lucie had to admit that it was a magnificent sight with its many towers reaching high into the sky and its windows glowing with golden light in the darkness.

"Come on, now." Hagrid gestured toward several small boats sitting ready for them to jump into.

No more than four went into each boat, Lucie was stuck with a sandy-haired boy and two other girls with pigtails who couldn't stop saying how beautiful it all was, wasn't it?

The boats followed Hagrid's command and they glided across the lake, its water completely still. They steered towards what looked like an underground cave beneath the castle and they had to duck their heads as they passed through long strands of ivy hanging from the ceiling. At a small jetty at the back of the cave, the students all clambered out of the boats and followed Hagrid up a couple of dimly lit stone steps. They halted as they came to a huge wooden door. Hagrid knocked firmly and the doors swung open to a tall Witch in emerald-green robes. She wore a stern expression and all the first years were clever enough not to chatter as they followed her to a chamber off of the main hallway.

This time, Lucie had her full attention on the Witch who introduced herself as Professor McGonagall. She knew that she would soon be in a room full of Witches and Wizards, she couldn't afford to stand out among the other first years. Lucie suddenly had the feeling of all her runes twitching and she looked down at her the back of her right hand every so often to check whether the Voyance rune was still invisible.

"You will soon be seated in the Great Hall to attend the start-of-term banquet, but before that you must be sorted into your houses," Professor McGonagall explained. "This is very important as your house will become your family at Hogwarts." Lucie held back a snort. She already had a family, she didn't need one at _Hogwarts_.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin."

What funny names, Lucie thought as McGonagall went on about how you can win or lose points for your house and that at the end of the year, the house with the most points will win the House Cup.

The Professor left the first years to wonder what was going to await them on the other side of these stone walls. Quite a few exchanged nervous glances and Lucie, as well, could feel dread pooling in her stomach. The prospect of standing in front of hundreds of Wizards and Witches while performing some magic sorting ceremony which entailed _Angels know what_ wasn't a pleasant one.

Lucie looked up as a couple of students shrieked. Through the stone walls several white translucent figures appeared. _Ghosts_. Lucie sighed as she eyed them warily. They weren't her favourite Downworlders, you could say that. She didn't like the idea that you could somehow get stuck between living and dead. Of course, no Nephilim had ever ended up a ghost. At least they were not as bad as giants and trolls who were just huge and made a big mess wherever they went.

Just as the ghosts started to engage in a vivid conversation which student would end up in which house, Professor McGonagall re-entered the chamber and led them into the Great Hall.

'

The Great Hall sure lived up to its name as it was huge filled with four long tables where the rest of the students were sitting. Thousands of candles hanging in mid-air spread a golden light throughout the vast space that reflected in the rows of golden plates and goblets on the tables. At the end of the hall, there was another long table for the teachers all glancing down at the students. Quite a lot of chattering and whispering accompanied the first years on their way through the middle aisle with all the older students inspecting the newcomers. Most of the first year's eyes were however raised to the ceiling of the room - which didn't seem to have a ceiling at all. The girl who had been sitting in a compartment with her earlier started to explain how it was enchanted to reflect the sky outside which was now filled with thousands of twinkling stars. The Wizards and Witches sure have a pompous school, Lucie thought as she stared up into the sea of light, although the Shadowhunters' institutes could definitely compare as they too were ancient buildings with intricate designs.

Lucie looked down the row of teachers and caught the eye of Professor Dumbledore who winked at her happily. She noticed that the attire Dumbledore had worn at the Institute had been toned down in comparison to the robe that was now hanging from his shoulders - it resembled the sparkling night sky as much as the enchanted ceiling did.

Lucie lined up with the others in front of the teachers' table as Professor McGonagall brought out a wooden stool with an old worn pointed hat on it. They stared at it in silence wondering what was going to happen next. Suddenly, the hat twitched and a rip opened near the brim that spread wide into a mouth. That mouth then, to Lucie's surprise, began to sing:

"_Oh you may not think I'm pretty,  
But don't judge on what you see,  
I'll eat myself if you can find  
A smarter hat than me.  
You can keep your bowlers black,  
Your top hats sleek and tall,  
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
And I can cap them all.  
There's nothing hidden in your head  
The Sorting Hat can't see,  
So try me on and I will tell you  
Where you ought to be.  
You might belong in Gryffindor,  
Where dwell the brave at heart,  
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry  
Set Gryffindors apart;  
You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
Where they are just and loyal,  
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true  
And unafraid of toil;  
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
if you've a ready mind,  
Where those of wit and learning,  
Will always find their kind;  
Or perhaps in Slytherin  
You'll make your real friends,  
Those cunning folks use any means  
To achieve their ends.  
So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
And don't get in a flap!  
You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"__[1]_

So this was what all this house-sorting was about, Lucie thought to herself as the whole room burst into applause when the hat had finished his song. Though her hands stilled in their movement as she realized that this hat was about to look into her head. What he would find there, would surely be unusual. She just hoped, the hat could keep his mouth shut.

Professor McGonagall began to call one first year after the other forward in alphabetical order which left Lucie standing around for quite a while, her head spinning wildly.

She watched as one student after the other was sorted, some sitting on the stool for a long time while the hat just had to touch some Witches' or Wizards' head to exclaim loudly what house they belonged to. A scrawny black-haired boy with round glasses caught her attention because as soon as his name was called out, the whole room erupted with whispers and fingers pointing. Lucie didn't know what to make of it neither what the excitement at the Gryffindor table was about when he got sorted into their house.

She quickly forgot about it when McGonagall called out only a few first years later:

"Radcliffe, Lucie."

She forced her wobbly knees forward, glad that Kayden couldn't see her in this state - she'd never hear the end of it.

Luckily, she didn't attract near as much attention as the boy before, but she could still feel hundreds of eyes on her as she sat down on the stool and the hat was placed on her head.

"Hm, well this is a surprise," she heard the voice of the Sorting Hat in her head. "Another one with Angel blood, hm?" _Another one?_ He could only mean her father. "Let's take a look... I can clearly see bravery and endurance graved into you. A will for sacrifice as well and a want to prove your worth. The mind itself doesn't look too bad, either. But what have we got here?" The hat pauses. "Anger? Yes, there is a rage boiling inside of you which you don't yet understand. I can see the ongoing fight in your mind - you desire to fit in with the others while at the same time wanting to carve your own path... Yes, you're afraid what the future will hold... Now, I know the perfect house for you. It will help you use that anger and find your own way at Hogwarts... Yes, I know, it's SLYTHERIN!"

Lucie heard the hat shout the last word and the table on the right erupted into cheers. She absent-mindedly got up and staggered to the Slytherin table where she was led to one of the remaining seats while several people shook her hand or clapped her on the back.

'

The next hour went by in a haze. Lucie picked at her plate as the others around her dug in and chatted away happily comparing family histories and broom-flying skills.

All of a sudden, Lucie felt a painful sting on her forehead. Her hand jumped up to the spot, but there was nothing there. The pain subsided as quickly as it came.

The pale first year with sleek almost white hair sitting across from her used her jump back to the here and now to start plucking her brain for her heritage.

So Lucie was forced to recite her cover-up story for the first time in front of an audience. Aunt Jodie had prepared her, of course, she'd told her some Wizards were crazy about genealogy.

"My parents were both Witch and Wizard, but they died shortly after I was born. I was raised by my aunt and her family, they're ... Muggles."

"You grew up with _Muggles_?" the pale boy, Draco, asked, disgust in his voice.

"Oh, you poor thing!" a slightly older Witch with grey eyes and waist-length honey-coloured hair said while laying a sympathetic hand on Lucie's shoulder.

"_How_ were they?" another first year asked with wide eyes.

Lucie shrugged. "Normal, I guess?"

"Don't worry," the long-haired Witch was back at it again. Lucie tried not to avoid her touch. "You'll soon learn what it means to be among Wizards and Witches."

Lucie just nodded absent-mindedly.

"I've never heard of the name Radcliffe before," Draco started. "Is it an old Wizard name?"

She shook her head. "It's my aunt's name, they never told me what my parents' name was."

That was, in fact, true, but Lucie also had never asked what her mother's name had been.

A few of the Slytherins around her looked at her in shock. But the Witch by her side silenced their questioning looks by wrapping an arm around Lucie's shoulders and saying: "What a shame! You'll find yourself a nice Wizarding name in no time, just you wait!"

Again, Lucie just nodded - still having no idea what they were talking about.

'

The rest of the banquet passed by and soon Lucie found herself following the Slytherin Prefects down more stone steps until they halted in front of a bare stretch of stone wall. One of the Prefects called "Pureblood" and the wall gave way to a passage leading to what was the Slytherin common room.

Lucie didn't notice much about the room only that it was all green and silver as she was just too tired - physically and mentally. As soon as she was directed to the girls dorm, she pulled on her pyjamas and fell into bed.

'

'

**A/N:**

**So Lucie's finally at Hogwarts!**

**This chapter is quite similar to the original. After this, the events of the books will still be taken into account but the story will follow more Lucie's point of view and what's in store for her as a Slytherin at Hogwarts...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Mortal Instruments.**

**Let me know what you think!**

**[1] from _Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone_ by J.K. Rowling**

'

_"I'm headed straight for the castle"_

_Castle by Halsey_


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

'

"Interesting turn of events, is it not?" Professor McGonagall mentioned to Professor Dumbledore as they were sitting in the Headmaster's office. After the start-of-term banquet, they always met up to discuss remaining matters. They usually mingled around for a bit afterwards.

"Yes, indeed." Dumbledore was perched up on his favourite armchair. "I am sure you're content though that Harry Potter has found his way into your house." He winked at her.

"I am sure we both are." McGonagall couldn't hide a small smile.

"You know me, Minerva. As Headmaster I have no preference towards any particular house," the twinkle in his eyes wasn't gone. "So I can say I am surprised about Lucie's sorting, but I do not deplore it."

McGonagall huffed lightly. "It just does not feel right to me that the two are in opposing houses. They are twins after all."

"Hmm." Dumbledore was stroking his beard deep in thought.

"And you couldn't convince them to tell Lucie the truth about her family?"

He shook his head.

"Minerva, you remember what occurred when we were thinking about giving Harry to the Nephilim side of his family like James had with Lucie," it wasn't a question. "The Shadowhunter Council already knew what had happened with the little boy and their members weren't willing to get pulled into further _Wizarding affairs_ as they put it ..." Dumbledore sighed heavily.

"He was just a boy."

"I know, I know."

"What a life he could have had alongside his sister!"

"Let us not dwell on what could have been," Dumbledore patted her shoulder affectionately as he mumbled: "You should have seen the look on James' sister's face. She was shocked to hear that her nephew was still alive ... the Council must have never told her."

McGonagall felt deep sorrow take over her heart.

"The poor woman ... to hear Harry is alive after ten years!" The sadness was quickly replaced with anger. "Well, the Council certainly has a history of trying to cut back all personal connections Shadowhunters have with the Wizarding World! I still cannot believe what they did with Celia Potter and that Redcliff boy all those years back ..."

"You know about those events?" Dumbledore asked in surprise.

"You forget how long I have been at your side, Albus," replied the offended Professor McGonagall.

"How could I only?" he laughed lightly.

They both sat there in silence for a while, reminiscing in old memories.

It was McGonagall who began to speak again.

"What kind of a name is Radcliffe, anyway?"

Dumbledore chuckled and said: "Well, they could not give her Potter as well, that would have been a bit too obvious."

"And what about her first name, Lucie? Why did they change its spelling?"

"As far as I know, that's just how the Nephilim write it."

"Hmpf," McGonagall wasn't content with his explanations. "Lucy Potter still sounds right, doesn't it?"

Dumbledore smiled to himself as he continued to diminish his dear friend's concerns.

"Like you said, they are twins after all. He will need her as she will need him. They will find each other eventually ... with a little help sooner than later."

"A little help?" McGonagall raised her eyebrows. "I thought you've been sworn to secrecy by the Council?"

"Well, it is not like I am going to tell them both in person." The twinkle in his eyes had never been brighter.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

_Easier said_

'

The next days passed by quicker than Lucie had expected. Between trying to find her way to classes, getting used to a new schedule and doing her best to avoid conversations with other Slytherins, Lucie had her hands full.

Luckily or unluckily as you may put it, the Witch with honey brown hair from the start-of-term banquet had decided to befriend her and show her the way of things - although Lucie felt like she was treated more as a lost puppy than as a new Witch friend. Seraphina Gibbons, _Sera_ to her friends, was rather excited about having Lucie to take care of. Since she didn't have a little sister and Lucie didn't have any siblings, she would now become her big sis', as she put it - even though she was merely two years older. Lucie didn't know what to make of it, but she was somewhat glad that Seraphina didn't fail to explain everything about the Wizarding World Lucie wasn't yet aware of.

So Lucie could soon solve her own mystery around the first-year boy who was constantly followed by stares and whispers. As Seraphina explained, Harry Potter had somehow defeated some powerful dark Wizard when he was just a toddler, so now he was famous and everybody expected great things from him or whatever. Must be pretty hard living up to those expectations when you have already killed someone evil as a baby.

It turned out that there was a huge fuss about this dark Wizard who seemed to be _the_ Dark Wizard of their age. Everybody would just call him You-Know-Who, some out of fear, some out of admiration, it appeared. Lucie tried not to get into any discussions about him, she didn't come here to get involved in Wizarding politics after all.

Soon, the second weekend after coming to Hogwarts arrived, and Lucie crept out of the common room early in the morning and made her way to the portal installed in her training room on the seventh floor. Lucie pulled out her stele to open the door, it was locked 'magic-proof', of course. Her training room was quite the opposite from her room at home in the Institute - it wasn't modest at all: Nephilim of the London Institute had installed the newest Shadowhunter technology for Lucie to train with, simulations and all that comes with it. Training swords, knives, spears, bows and arrows hung on the walls. The bookshelf was filled with learning material of all Shadow World-relevant subjects, as was the desk covered in sheets of rune drawings. Lucie couldn't wait to be given permission to draw runes on her own skin. For now, it was only the Unseen rune that she was allowed to perform herself in order to cover up her permanent runes engraved in her skin and - with that - cover up her Nephilim identity.

Over the back of the chair behind the desk, Lucie had hung the gift she had found in Aunt Jodie's package: it was her aunt's old jacket for the Hunt, its black colour never worn out although the leather material had gone soft from all the years of use. Even though it was way too big for Lucie, she loved wearing it in the security of her training room, the jacket on her giving the faintest impression of her aunt's hands on her shoulders.

Lucie now wrapped herself out of her school robes and put on the leather jacket. Jodie hadn't worn it in years, but it still had her scent woven into the material. Lucie had never really asked her aunt why she didn't go on Demon Hunts regularly anymore. She just figured that Aunt Jodie had more than enough to do as Head of the London Institute.

Ready to leave, Lucie opened the wooden panels to the back of the room, uncovering the portal with its energy field pulsating in white and blue. She closed her eyes and stepped into the portal, already used to the feeling of being pulled under cold water.

'

Lucie came out just a block away from the Institute. The portal was designed to always lead here - in the odd case, a Wizard or Witch stumbled upon it, they wouldn't be lead to the Institute directly.

Uncle Matthew was already waiting for her. Although she didn't need someone to escort her back, she was glad for the company.

"Hey, Lucie, how's magic school been?"

She rolled her eyes at her uncle.

"Very funny."

"Somebody's got to keep one's humour around here," he said jokingly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as they went down the street. "You know, _your aunt_ nearly put up blue banners around the Institute. Luckily, we could all stop her before she started the mess."

Lucie couldn't hold back laughter. "Blue banners? I'm not a lost one finding my way home!"

"Well, according to Jodie you might as well be," Matthew snorted. "I managed to appease her by giving her a blue scarf she could wear for the special occasion."

They entered the Institute through the front entrance with its huge double doors. Of course, it could compete with Hogwarts castle, Lucie thought to herself. The London Institute stood on the grounds of a cathedral that had burned down several centuries back. The abandoned ruins were what Mundanes now saw when they passed by. But the Shadowhunters and sighted Downworlders were able to set eyes upon the beauty of the largest European institute. It was truly a magnificent sight with its high ceilings and intricate carved stone arches. Tapestries and paintings hung on the walls, many depicting the Angel Raziel. More so, for Lucie it was home. The Redcliff family had an estate in Idris, but Aunt Jodie and the rest of them usually just went there for a short holiday once a year. The London Institute was where Lucie had grown up and it was where she wanted to grow old.

Shortly after the double doors had closed behind Lucie, she was nearly knocked off her feet as Kayden rushed towards her. Joshua soon followed, joining them in a big hug.

"I've only been gone for two weeks!"

"Yeah! That's ages!" Josh exclaimed.

They eventually let go when Lucie started complaining that she couldn't breathe. Abigail came towards them but froze on the spot when she saw what Lucie was wearing. Lucie didn't give it much thought as she was pulled into her room by Kayden and Joshua who wanted to know _all_ about the time she had been gone.

So she reluctantly started to tell them about her lessons, her classmates, her teachers...

"You'll like this, Kay. There's this Wizarding sport called Quidditch: they fly around on brooms and throw balls into hoops. At least, that's what I understood. It sounds a bit like your _football_, just in the air, doesn't it?"

"No, it doesn't!" protested Kayden. "Foot. Ball. Means exactly that, you kick the ball, you don't throw. What you're describing sounds more like basketball."

"Whatever! I still don't get why you're so into Mundane sports," Lucie teased her cousin.

"Hey! Don't insult my hobby! At least I've got one!" Kayden crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Of course I've got a hobby!"

"Really?" Kayden uttered in disbelief. "You know that knife throwing doesn't count?"

"It doesn't?" It was Lucie's turn to sound offended. "That's strange 'cause I find it rather relaxing... and very effective."

She lunged at her cousin, tackling him to the ground. They immediately engaged in a measuring of each other's strength while Joshua just sat on Lucie's bed, shaking his head at their childishness.

"What's going on in here?"

Aunt Jodie was at the door. She had finished her meeting and now wanted to welcome her niece home - who was lying on the floor, her limbs entangled with Kayden's.

Lucie and Kayden quickly got up and Lucie went over to her aunt to hug her tightly.

"The new scarf suits you, Aunt Jodie," she said mockingly.

"Watch yourself!" Jodie freed her herself from her niece's embrace, laughter in her tone.

Kayden instantly came to his cousin's defence. "She just noticed that the blue really makes your eyes pop, Mum."

"Of course, she did."

Joshua, who didn't understand sarcasm, was just as confused as ever.

* * *

And so the weeks went on. They were classes, Lucie admitted, which were quite enjoyable - especially flying lessons. Lucie loved the rush of air and the adrenaline that came with being high up with just a piece of wood to hold you. Her spirits usually fell when Madame Hooch's whistle sounded to signal the end of the lesson.

During other classes, Lucie just tried her best not to fall asleep. History was one of those subjects as well as Charms when Professor Flitwick would get stuck with dry theory. Actually using her wand turned out to be more difficult than Lucie had expected.

While others seemed to have no problem at all, Lucie struggled with the simplest of spells. Even though the familiar material, her wand felt foreign in her hand not like the stele she used. Lucie had the feeling she always needed to convince the wand and herself to just simply swish or flick.

It didn't help that Lucie wasn't used to sitting still for such a long periods of time. Sure, Shadowhunters also had theory lessons, but they never stretched out during the whole day. And when all her classes had finished, Lucie still had homework to do even though all she really wanted to do was go onto the seventh floor and practice combat stances.

As a result, Lucie wasn't top of the class. Rather bottom of the class, one could say. And that attracted the attention of the Head of her House, Professor Snape. He called her to his office one afternoon in late November after Lucie had a particularly boring Defense Against the Darks Arts lesson. Till then, nothing much out of the ordinary had happened. The others had found the incidence on Halloween alarming, when a troll had barged into the school - Lucie hadn't really given it a second thought, she was used to Downworlders.

When Lucie reached Snape's office, she hesitated for a moment. This wasn't the most friendliest professor she was meeting. She wondered what happened to students who failed at everything. Not that she really cared, did she?

Almost immediately after she knocked, she heard a drawn out call to enter.

Lucie stepped into the office that was as dimly lit as the Potions' classroom. It had the same smell as well, its walls covered in flasks and vials filled with various things Lucie couldn't all identify.

Professor Snape was sitting behind his desk, his gaze fixed on the young Witch hesitantly walking towards him.

"Please, sit, Miss ... Radcliffe."

Lucie sat down on the creaking chair. At first, she looked everywhere but the professor. How stupid of her, she thought. So she pulled herself together and met Snape's piercing gaze. She was a Shadowhunter, after all. A Redcliff.

"You asked to see me, Professor?"

"Yes, Miss Radcliffe." He noticed that she was fidgeting with her robes. Her red hair was pulled back into a ponytail, several strands had already gotten loose and framed her pale face. It weren't green eyes that stared up to him. Snape didn't know what he had expected, but the unfamiliar eyes ripped him out of his thoughts. He realised that this was, in fact, Lucie Radcliffe sitting in front of him.

"It has come to my attention that you are struggling with your classes, is that correct?"

Lucie swallowed. "Yes, Professor."

"Is there a particular reason for that, if I may ask?"

"Well ...," Lucie hesitated. How much did he know? "It's just a lot ... to get used to, at the moment."

"Of course." It sounded as if Snape was pronouncing each letter separately.

He swiftly got up from his chair, making his way around the desk.

"I am aware that you're situation is ... more complicated than that of the others. Going along with that, I am willing to grant you special treatment in the form of private lessons after your regular classes ... As Head of your House, I am responsible for your success here at Hogwarts, after all."

Snape had completed a full circle around the office, now coming to a stop behind his desk. He leaned forward, his hands resting on the wooden surface.

"You are able to do great things, Lucie. You just need to accept what you are."

Lucie sank down into the chair. She felt more than uncomfortable. This wasn't a conversation she wanted to have with anyone, let alone her teacher. When she found the strength to speak without her voice wavering too much, she said: "I know what I am. And I don't need _special _treatment. I'll be fine on my own."

"You cannot run away from this, I hope you know that," responded Snape firmly. "And you cannot figure this out on your own, you need someone who understands both sides of you."

Lucie got up so quickly that the chair nearly toppled over. Her voice had grown cold.

"Excuse me, Professor. But I don't believe that that someone is here in this room."

And with that, she wheeled around and exited Snape's office as fast as one could without breaking into a run.

_How much did he actually know?_ The question was burned into Lucie's mind as she made her way upstairs. She needed fresh air.

Lucie nearly ran across the courtyard. It was getting dark, the trees of the Forbidden Forest ahead had already turned pitch-black. To Hell with the school rules, Lucie thought as she pulled out her stele and drew a glamour rune on her left arm. Safe from the sight of Witches and Wizards, she went into the forest. She couldn't be bothered by anything, not even her long school robes, as she now broke into a run and entered the darkness of the Forbidden Forest.

After the incident in Snape's office, neither of them addressed it again. During Potions, Snape never asked Lucie anything, and Lucie never raised her hand. It was as simple as that.

* * *

One Sunday shortly before Christmas, Lucie was stuck in the library. She had spent the weekend at home, training with Kayden and Abigail, and now her Hogwarts homework had piled up.

Lucie was working on a Potions assignment when Seraphina sat down across from her. The Witch peaked at Lucie's writing and sighed.

"The Wiggentree bark and its uses in potion-making," she read aloud. "I've only seen the title and I'm already bored."

Lucie looked up from her homework and rolled her eyes.

"Then consider yourself lucky you don't have to write a two-page essay about it."

"Don't worry, I do." Seraphina started flicking through one of the books lying open on the desk. "What are you still doing here, anyway?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Lucie exclaimed. "I have to catch up on some assignments."

She was getting annoyed at her _friend_. She would be much quicker without unnecessary commentary.

"Well, aren't you an overachiever."

Lucie bit back a comment. Since she was doing horribly enough with the practical side of magic, she couldn't afford to slack behind with the theory as well. She had to keep Snape off her back somehow.

"I'm just joking, you know." Seraphina leaned back in her chair and put her feet up onto the edge of the table. "I'm not a books person myself if that's reassuring."

Lucie was having a hard time concentrating on her essay.

"Honestly, it's not. Not right now." She was done with pleasantries, she had neither the time nor the nerve at this moment.

Seraphina didn't seem bothered. "Look who's showing their dragon tail."

Lucie sighed before asking: "What do you want, Seraphina?"

The Witch in question shrugged. "Just thought I'd drop by and show my friend Lucie here a trick or two."

"What kind of trick?"

"Magic trick, of course."

Lucie just raised her eyebrows. "Magic?"

"We haven't got our wands for nothing, now, have we?" She pulled out her wand from her robe. "Look, I'll show you what I do when I can't be bothered to read in the agonizingly slow pace everyone usually does."

Seraphina drew an imaginary circle in the air with her wand before flicking in its middle while saying the word: "_Incumbio_!"

Nothing visibly happened.

Lucie's eyebrows couldn't raise any higher. "And now?"

"Now...," Seraphina paused for dramatic effects. "I can read all the scripts on this table in two minutes and retain everything mentioned in them. Works like a charm for essays, not for exams though, sadly. The spell is very short-lived."

Lucie still had a questioning look on her face.

"Go on," Seraphina encouraged her. "Try it."

"I'm not that good at the wand waving...," Lucie said.

"Oh, nonsense. Just try it."

So Lucie imitated Seraphina's wand movements and pronounced the incantation. Nothing happened.

"Should I be feeling anything?" Lucie asked.

"There should be this tingle in your temples ... You don't feel it."

Lucie shook her head.

She tried again, several times. Seraphina watched her movements carefully, but couldn't find anything wrong with it.

"Oh well, just keep practicing, it'll come to you," Seraphina reassured her friend.

"That doesn't help me now," grumbled Lucie.

"How about this? For this time, I'll tell you what to write and then you'll finish quicker. How does that sound?"

Lucie didn't feel all too comfortable accepting Seraphina's help. But she had been in the library far too long, so she agreed with her plan happily.

'

'

**A/N:**

**The spell Seraphina uses is not canon. I tried to find one that fits the situation in the list of official spells, but there wasn't really one. So I just made up "Incumbio". It's derived from the latin word for exertion or effort (I'm not a latin expert, so if the Internet failed me, please let me know...)**

**Anyway, thank you all for reading! A special shoutout to everyone who is following the story or has favourited it! I really hope you enjoy what is coming up.**

** justyourfriendlyneighbor: Thank you so much for the kind reviews! I'm really glad you enjoyed the last chapters. About the Radcliffe name: When I was trying to come up with the right Shadowhunter name, Radcliffe and then Redcliff just turned up in my head and stuck with me... *shrugs***

**'**

_"So what if you're a bit bitter before you reach us [...]  
__Remember everyone is coping with their own scars  
__And just a little bit of time can get you so far"_

_Easier Said by Alessia Cara_


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

_Power Over Me_

'

It was shortly after the holidays when Lucie stumbled upon it.

* * *

The weeks away from Hogwarts had gone over more or less eventless. The Redcliff family never celebrated Christmas, it just wasn't a tradition of theirs. Some Shadowhunters had taken over Mundane rituals and rites, depending on the country they lived in. The London Institute had been in the hands of Redcliffs for centuries, but they hadn't adopted any English or Christian traditions for that matter. Except for Fish'n'Chips - Fridays, of course. Even full time warriors had their cheat days.

So Lucie had spent her magic-free days training, as usual, and catching up on missed rune and Nephilim law classes. She sometimes even joined Kayden in the courtyard of the Institute for a game of Mundane football. He thoroughly explained all the rules there were to know, but since they were only two players, not twenty-two, they didn't really stick to them. As Lucie got the knack of it, she even started to enjoy it a bit - although she would never admit it. Another bonus was that she could thus escape the prying eyes of Council members who appeared to be around whenever she was at the Institute.

On New Year's Eve, the Nephilim in the Institute had gathered together. They had joined Jodie as Head of the Institute in thanking the Angels for another successful year of the Hunt. There had only been one decease among the London Shadowhunters this past year and they all hoped that the coming one wouldn't cost more. As warriors, they reckoned with death, but they still wanted to avoid it coming to soon.

Back at Hogwarts, life went on as usual as it could get at a school for magic. A week into the term, Lucie received post, for the first time ever. She was used to the owls fluttering into the Great Hall during breakfast, dropping letters and packages for the students and teachers. She wasn't, however, used to an owl coming down onto her plate.

It was a small owl, grey in colour, and it held a thin envelope in its beak. Lucie, wondering who could have sent her something via owl mail, took the envelope off the owl which shortly after flapped its tiny wings and flew off again.

Lucie turned the envelope over. It had no name on it, no addressor. Since she had to hurry to get to class, she slipped it into her book bag. There it lay forgotten until late that evening, when Lucie was climbing up the stairs to her training room. As she was walking through the deserted corridor, she opened the envelope, pulling out a brown feather and a photograph. The feather had white sprinkles on it. Lucie's attention was however focused on the picture - which was moving like a short film. She'd already seen the various paintings all around the castle where the people depicted weren't rooted to the canvas. But on this thin sheet of paper, it was even more impressive.

The photograph showed two people, a man and a woman. They were both smiling broadly and the woman's belly was round and big. Lucie flipped the picture. On the backside, there was indeed writing. It said: _Lily and James, Last Christmas alone._

Lily and James? Lucie had never heard their names before. As she studied the two people more intensely, she noticed that the woman, Lily presumably, had dark red hair. The exact same shade of red that was dangling in front of Lucie's eyes as several strands had gotten loose from her ponytail. The man's eyes looked familiar as they were a certain shade of hazel. It couldn't be, Lucie gasped.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps coming towards her. Lucie dove through the next best door she could find.

When the sound of steps died away, Lucie concentrated once more on the photograph in her shaking hands.

There was no doubt left in her mind. These two people were her parents. And she had probably been inside the woman's belly. Lucie noticed how the corners of Lily's mouth turned up when she smiled, how James' eyes seemed to shrink to narrow slits as he laughed. Just like Lucie's did. She knew that her father had changed his name when he'd gone to Hogwarts, so it could very well be James.

Tears welled up in her eyes. James' eyes. Not just the Redcliff eyes now, her father's eyes, too. This was the first time she saw her parents, what they looked like. Here in the privacy of this room, Lucie could pretend that they were smiling out to her. The twinkle in their eyes was meant for her.

At that cue, Lucie tore her gaze away from the photograph to look around the room she had stumbled upon. It seemed to be an old classroom no longer in use. At the back of it, a huge mirror was propped up against the wall. Lucie tiptoed towards it. She had the sudden urge to study her own reflection and find every single trait of hers among her parents' faces.

As she approached the mirror, her reflection however started _changing_. Her red hair darkened and turned into a chocolate brown. Her skin as well got a more olive tone. The girl in the mirror seemed older, even taller and more muscular built. She no longer wore Hogwarts school uniform with the Slytherin green and silver, although her clothes were also all black; yet it was the traditional Hunting gear for Shadowhunters. All of her skin that was visible was covered in black runes. The reflection had a firm expression in her eyes, she held her chin high.

When Lucie stopped dead in her tracks, confused by the way her reflection had altered, the girl in the mirror also furrowed her brow. As the seconds ticked by, a group of people appeared. They clustered around Mirror Lucie. The real Lucie didn't have to look behind her to know that they were confined to the magical glass. It was the Redcliff family that stared out to her: Kayden and Abigail had their hands on Mirror Lucie's shoulders. Joshua, Jodie and Matthew stood behind the three as well as Grandmother Redcliff and all the other distant relatives living in Idris.

Lucie couldn't decide whether to look at the picture in the mirror or in the photograph. She knew that she herself fit in more with the pair on paper. But her parents were dead. They never had had a chance to be a family. They never will have.

But the people in the mirror, they were her family. They raised her, they were there for her. The best thing she could do was to become someone they could be proud of. To become Mirror Lucie.

She may not be able to change her skin colour or determine how tall she was going to get. But she was definitely able to work towards becoming the best Shadowhunter the Redcliffs had ever seen. And it didn't matter that she had magical powers beside that. All that mattered was that she trained like a true Nephilim.

With that, Lucie stuffed the envelope, photograph and feather along with it, into her school robes and rushed to her room. She discarded the robes the second the door closed behind her and pulled on Aunt Jodie's leather jacket.

* * *

Over the course of the next weeks, Lucie withdrew herself even more from the life at Hogwarts. She attended every class, she completed every assignment, she came for every meal into the Great Hall. But nothing beyond that. Lucie made sure to spend every spare minute in her room on the seventh floor. She never spent any free time chit-chatting with her fellow Slytherins, always coming back to her dorm late in the evening.

Nobody approached Lucie about it. Snape didn't bother her again, none of her classmates knew her close enough to really care. Even Draco didn't probe her with curious questions about her past and family history; he had come to the conclusion that she didn't have much of a status among the Wizarding World to keep around him.

That was, nobody except Seraphina seemed to care. Whenever she was able to catch Lucie between classes, she would offer help with homework or invite to join her and her friends later on. Lucie would, however, always decline. And so they never saw much of each other - until one afternoon, when Seraphina spotted Lucie sitting by the Black Lake, all alone huddled in a thick cloak.

Seraphina didn't think twice to excuse herself from her group of friends and swiftly make her way down the slope to the edge of the lake. Winter hadn't yet fully given way to spring and so the breeze coming in from the water was still icy cold. The lake itself wasn't frozen anymore, but Seraphina was sure that if she were to dip her toes into the dark water, they'd immediately turn a blackish blue. The sky, too, had decided not to let any rays of the sun through, so the grey of the clouds blended in nicely with the colour of the lake.

Seraphina shivered as she sat down next to Lucie who didn't seem much affected by the cold.

"Alright, tell me," Seraphina tried to start a conversation. "What's going on, _really_?"

Lucie didn't look up from where she had been staring at her hands.

"You wouldn't understand." It was the most honest thing she'd said in weeks.

Seraphina remained straight-faced. "Try me."

Lucie hesitated before asking: "Do you ever wish you were just a normal person?"

"Well ... I am quite normal. So I think that question is in itself a bit pointless."

Lucie looked up to her. "But you're a Witch."

"Oh, you mean that kind of normal," Seraphina laughed. "The Muggle _normal_?"

"Yes, that one."

"No, not really," she answered. "I mean, my magical powers are part of who I am. I was raised to be a Witch. This-" She gestured to the castle above. "Is my normal."

Seraphina studied Lucie's expression. "But not for you, I guess."

Lucie shook her head as her gaze wandered to the black water of the lake. Seraphina wrapped an arm around her shoulders, just like the night of the banquet. Except this time, there was nothing patronizing about the gesture.

"How bad is it at home?"

"What do you mean?" Lucie furrowed her brow in confusion.

"You live with your Muggle family, right?"

"Er ... yes."

"What do they think about you being a Witch?"

Lucie thought hard about what to say. She could tell the truth, just by exchanging the word Shadowhunter with Muggle in every sentence.

"Well, there not exactly happy about me having magical powers," Lucie said carefully. "In my family ... it's considered dangerous to be a Witch."

"So you wish not to have magic?"

"Maybe," Lucie paused. "I don't know really ... All I can say is that everything would be far less complicated if I didn't."

"You know, magic doesn't have to be a burden, Lu. It makes you special from the rest of your family."

"But I don't want to be special!" Lucie's voice got louder. "All my life-"

"All your eleven years of life."

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, all my eleven years of life, I just wanted to fit in. I wanted to be like my cousins - they even look completely different than me!"

"Then why did you say 'maybe' just now?" Seraphina prodded. "From what you're saying it seems like you want to be a Muggle for sure."

"Because-," she hesitated. She hadn't shown anyone before. Not even Kayden. "Because of this."

Lucie pulled out the photograph from her school robe and handed it to Seraphina with trembling hands.

"Are these your parents?" Seraphina asked, her tone soft. "The woman looks just like you."

"I know."

They both remained silent for a while as they studied the man and woman smiling up at them. The wind had died down completely, but no one else was around the lake. An eerie silence spread across the water and around the two Witches.

Lucie finally cleared her throat and said: "This is the first picture I've ever seen of my parents. Nobody in my family ever talks about them, not even my aunt ... It's like there's this unspoken rule about not mentioning them. I get it, I mean, there were Witch and Wizard."

"I actually _do_ understand." Lucie looked at Seraphina in doubt. "I'm an orphan, too."

"You are?"

"Don't look so surprised!" She smacked Lucie lightly in the arm. "My parents died when I was two. I don't remember much about them, but on the contrary to your relatives, _nobody_ in my family ever stops talking about them. I was raised to make them proud. So trust me, when I say that I understand what pressure you must be under. While you are supposed to be nothing like your parents, I'm supposed to be everything like them ... We might be different in a lot of ways, but we sure have more to deal with from a young age on than all the careless beings up there." Seraphina motioned to the school. "I realise there's a lot going on in that head of yours and you don't need to feel obligated to tell me everything. Just know, that I'm here. If you ever want to talk more about it, I have very good hearing."

Lucie had to laugh and her friend joined in.

"Here," Seraphina gave her the photograph back. "Keep it in a safe place. They are part of you. And don't tell anyone I said this, but so are your Muggle relatives."

Lucie nodded as she slipped it into her pocket.

"Now, how about those magical powers?"

"I'll think about it."

"That's all I'm asking." Seraphina smiled. "You'd make a pretty fierce Witch, you know."

"With my wand skills?" Lucie coughed.

"It's all work-in-progress," Seraphina said. "If the mind is in on it, your wand will follow."

'

'

**A/N:**

_"I wanna be king in your story  
__I wanna know who you are  
__I want your heart to beat for me"_

_Power Over Me by Dermot Kennedy_


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

_I'm So Sorry_

'

The following weekend, Lucie found herself wandering around the Institute. She noticed that over the course of the year, she had been having the desire to be alone more and more. Just a few months ago, she had dreaded being by herself. But now, it was as if an invisible barrier had settled itself between Lucie and everyone she knew. She couldn't be totally and fully honest about things with anyone anymore. With her cousins, she couldn't talk about Wizarding things; with Serafina, she couldn't talk about Shadowhunter business. And Aunt Jodie - well, she already had enough worry lines. It was frustrating, to say the least. So Lucie had opted to make conversation with herself about everything that was bothering her.

She passed a tapestry of the Angel Raziel. It was ancient, Lucie had never dared to touch it. The tapestry depicted Raziel gifting Jonathan Shadowhunter, the first of their kind, with the Mortal Instruments. This was her legacy. The Angel himself had gifted them with his blood so that they could defend Earth against the Demon invasions. It was their obligation to do their best in the never ending war. How could Lucie fulfil such a duty if it was Demon blood that was running through her veins alongside the Angel one?

The Clave didn't know where Wizards and Witches had come from originally, but it was sure that they were, too, a type of Downworlder - created with Demonic blood. The fact that Lucie was alive was a pure miracle. Why the Angel and Demon blood hadn't started an internal war in her body was beyond her.

As she studied the Angel, Lucie asked herself whether she would really be able to become a worthy Nephilim. Her father had miserably failed as had her great-aunt. Why would she be any different? Her powers were already influencing her everyday life, they were influencing her life at the Institute. Who was to say it would stay at that? Maybe in a few years, when Lucie would be eligible to go on her first Hunt, the Council would declare that for impossible. She would be exiled from the Shadow World for the safety of the Nephilim.

Lucie could never show both sides of her. At the Institute, she had to hide her magical abilities and train like a normal Shadowhunter. At Hogwarts, she had to cover her runes and pretend to be a normal Witch. Sometimes during classes, she didn't feel like a Nephilim. She felt weak and powerless, always in hiding. Only when she was in her training room, was she able to breath, really breath.

Lucie tore her eyes away from the tapestry. The picture of the Shadowhunter in the magical mirror reappeared in her mind. Something had to be done about her look, Lucie was sure of it. If she wasn't allowed to show her runes, at least she would look the part of the undercover Nephilim. That was who she was, after all. Lucie was done being the unremarkable Witch at the back of the class.

And who was better to turn to for that than Abigail.

* * *

Lucie found her cousin in her room. Abigail barely looked up from her desk when Lucie entered after she had knocked.

"What is it, Lucie?" she asked.

Even bent over her Combat Strategy assignment, Abigail looked perfect. Not one hair on her head was in a wrong place, not one crease in her clothes. She seemed to always make the best out of the damped Shadowhunter colours, every item of clothing carefully selected and put together.

Lucie cleared her throat. "I was wondering if I could ask your advice on something."

"Is it urgent?"

"Erm ... no, not really." Lucie was playing with her stele in her hands. "I - I see your busy ... I'll come back later."

She was just about to turn back around, when Abigail sighed heavily before saying: "No, it's alright. I'm nearly done anyways." She looked Lucie up and down. "It must be specific if you're coming to me and not Kayden or Mum." Lucie couldn't quite read the expression on Abigail's face.

"Come, sit." Her cousin patted the empty stool beside the desk. "Now, spill. What's bothering you?"

Lucie took a deep breath. "Well, I'd, er, I'd like your help with, um, with my ... appearance."

Abigail raised one eyebrow. "Appearance?"

"Yes, I mean my look and all."

"What's wrong with the one you've got going now?" She looked at Lucie's messy ponytail, worn-out shirt and loose leggings.

"It doesn't feel ... right, anymore."

"What changed?"

"Are you going to help me or not?" Lucie exclaimed, more agitated now.

"If I should be able to help you out, I need to know what you're going for," Abigail said matter-of-factly.

All the while, Lucie picked up the pace with which she was drumming her stele against her thigh.

"I thought a bit more ... like you." She was looking at the ceiling of Abi's room.

"Like me?"

"Well, you always look perfect. Like the perfect Shadowhunter..." Lucie gathered up the courage to express her thoughts. "Lately, I haven't really been feeling like the Nephilim I am. At the school, I - I feel weak and helpless. I want to feel powerful. Like you." Her voice faltered.

Abigail crossed her arms in front of her chest. She studied Lucie with narrowed eyes.

"You're pathetic."

"What?" Lucie looked at her cousin with wide eyes.

"You heard me," Abigail said. "I'm not Mum, I won't handle you like you're made out of glass, or joke around like Dad. I say, you should stop whining." Her voice had grown cold. "You know why I always look perfect? Because that's what's expected of me. I'm the old one, the responsible one. I'm the one that can take care of herself while _poor Lucie_ here needs to be mothered at every opportunity!"

The coldness in her tone had made way for a well-hidden anger to surface. "Do you have any idea how I felt when I saw you in Mom's Hunt jacket? I'm her _daughter_, that was supposed to be passed on to _me_. But no, Lucie needs it more than I do, right? I'm always second choice and I always will be," Abigail said bitterly. "The best thing I can do is make sure that everything I do is _perfect_. That my grades are always at the top, my look always represents the Redcliff pride. My feelings don't matter there, do they?" She jumped up from the chair she was sitting on, towering above her cousin.

"And you know what makes everything even worse? When you don't stop complaining about _everything_ going on in your life. Don't you get it? You have endless opportunity. You have _power_. Power other Shadowhunters can only dream of. And what do you do with it? You throw it away, you see it as a burden! Sure, everybody keeps telling you it's dangerous. But have you actually experienced that danger at the school?"

Lucie didn't know what to say. So she kept her mouth shut.

"Of course, you haven't. So why don't you get over yourself and start learning how to use that power of yours? Having Demon blood in you doesn't define who you are and what actions you take. You're not doomed to become like your _father_! You could do so many good things with magic, you know. You could use it during the Hunt. You could even heal Mum's bad back if you only learnt how!" Lucie kept on staring at Abigail, not saying a word. "You say you want to be more like me? Then accept the power inside of you and start using it for good. Then you'll feel powerful again. If you can't show Wizards your Shadowhunter side, then show them what you can do as a Witch!"

Abigail was breathing heavily. She seemed to have kept her feelings well-hidden for a long time. Once you opened one door, the whole wall was doomed to fall apart.

Lucie gulped. She had never experienced her cousin like this. Abigail had always been so calm and composed about everything she said. Never had she let any emotion slip through.

"Are you done?" she asked carefully.

"Yes!" Abigail nearly screamed. "No, wait! You can take this." She thrusted a folded piece of paper in Lucie's hands. "Show it to Mum and Dad, if you want. I don't care."

Lucie opened what turned out to be a letter with shaking hands. It was an official letter from the Clave congratulating **Ms Abigail Redcliff** on successfully completing her training. There would be a ceremony in a month, gifting her with the Angelic rune that demonstrated her status as a full Shadowhunter.

"Abi-"

"What?!"

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" The letter was dated from two weeks ago.

"Because ... nobody cares anyway."

Lucie was about to ask what made Abigail think of such a thing, but she bit back her question.

"I'm sorry."

"Whatever." Abigail stared at her assignment. "I have work to do."

"You should give this to Jodie and Matthew yourself." Lucie slipped the letter back onto the desk. "Abigail-"

"Go."

Lucie opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. So she crept out of her cousin's room, carefully closing the door shut behind her.

As Lucie dragged herself back to her own room, she noticed how late it already was. Without saying goodbye to anyone, she slipped out of the Institute and made her way back to Hogwarts.

It was pitch black in the corridors of the castle. Lucie made sure to keep her Glamour rune activated not to be caught by Mr Filch or his horrible cat Mrs Norris.

Just as she passed through the Entrance Hall, she heard voices behind her. She immediately pressed herself against the wall. She may be invisible and unhearable, but she was still made out of solid flesh and could be run into.

At first, Lucie saw the lantern of Mr Filch spread a flickering light through the hall. Following him were Draco and three Gryffindor first-years - one of them unmistakably famous Harry Potter. They exited through the front entrance and Lucie tiptoed behind them to see where they were going so late at night. The group of five went all the way down the hill to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. This could only mean detention. Lucie wondered how Draco had been stupid enough to get caught. Along with three Gryffindors. Then again, he wasn't the brightest. Arrogance had never made the wisest of people.

Lucie wanted to turn around and go to her dorm to get a good night's sleep when she felt something tugging at her sleeve. When she looked down, there was nothing there. Yet, the tugging continued. It grew stronger, spreading up her arm and right into her chest. It felt like a foreign force was taking control over her body as she was lead down into the forest and deep into its heart.

'

'

**A/N:**

_"About time for anyone telling you off for all your deeds  
__No sign the roaring thunder stopped in cold to read  
__Get mine and make no excuses of precious breath  
__The sun shines on everyone, everyone love yourself to death"_

_I'm So Sorry by Imagine Dragons_


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

_Yellow Flicker Beat_

'

The next thing Lucie remembered, she was standing in a meadow. The darkness of the night had vanished and an eerie light shone down from above. The ground was covered in fallen silvery leaves, forming a soft ground to walk on that almost bounced back with every step. The place was unfamiliar to Lucie - yet she knew exactly where to go.

She went from one meadow to another, passing through a sparsely wooded forest made out of lean trees with luminescent white bark. The next meadow was far larger than the previous one. Several people formed a near circle around the edge of the tree line, leaving a gap for Lucie to enter. Across from her, an intricate throne stood elevated a few steps from the ground, woven out of intertwined branches of every sort of tree one could imagine. Flowers blossomed along the sides of the throne and long strands of ivy spread out from it to all sides. Lucie recognised it as a throne by the woman sitting on it. She carried herself very much like a queen. She wore a gown that seemed to be made solely out of cherry blossoms and a golden circlet rested on top of her scarlet hair. Her ears were slightly pointed.

All of a sudden, Lucie was shook out of her trance. The people surrounding her were Faeries. And the woman resting on her throne was none other than the Seelie Queen herself.

"I trust you found your way here safely," the Seelie Queen began to speak in her silken voice.

As she looked over her shoulder, Lucie noticed that the gap behind her had been closed and that she was now encircled by Faeries. Taking a deep breath in, she straightened her back and lifted her chin. As she spoke, she tried to sound as calm as possible.

"You're treading dangerous ground... Your Majesty," she added.

"Am I?" A look of surprise flickered across her face before disappearing as quickly as it had appeared. "As this is my own ground, I can say with conviction that it is in no way _dangerous_. Not to me and not to you, Lucie Redcliff."

"Forgive me," Lucie said with more than a hint of sarcasm. "I was speaking metaphorically."

The Seelie Queen smiled. "It is indeed refreshing to hear one of your kind speak in such an eloquent way."

"Then could I ask what the meaning of this is?" Lucie had never been known for patience. "Luring a Shadowhunter into Your Court? When the relations between the Nephilim and the Fair Folk is already strained? I believe the Council won't take too kindly to such actions."

The Queen continued smiling. "_I_ believe the Council has far more important matters to attend to than our little conversation here. And I dare say that our relations have amended since the end of the Cold Peace... I would be careful if I were you, my dear Lucie. You wouldn't want to start a _war_ just because you _accidentally_ insulted the Fey." Her voice had turned into the sickening kind of sweet. "Now, let us get back to your original question."

The Queen of the Seelie Court glided from her throne and down the steps. She was barefoot and neither her feet nor the train of her dress made any sound as she came towards Lucie. The Queen wasn't extraordinarily tall, but at Lucie's age it wasn't hard to tower over her as an adult - or immortal being.

"What _is_ the meaning of this, you ask?"

Lucie stood rooted to the spot as the Seelie Queen approached her.

"The simple answer is: I wanted to make your acquaintance."

"My _acquaintance_?"

"Yes, you are special after all."

Lucie opened her mouth to object but she was silenced by the Seelie Queen.

"There is no point in denying it. You are part Shadowhunter, part Witch. That is unique in our world... Your denial of it could be interpreted as humble by some, but I find it..." She was twirling one of Lucie's auburn locks around her slender finger. "... tiring. Nonetheless annoying." She let the curl spring free. "Your cousin was right in judging it pathetic."

Lucie's eyes widened in shock as the Seelie Queen slithered around her.

"I - I didn't mention Abigail - or what she said," Lucie stuttered.

"Everyone has their place in this world, Lucie," said the Queen, ignoring Lucie's remark. "It is time you recognize your own."

She pointed to one of the guards closest to the throne.

"Bring me the scrying glass."

The guard brought forward a golden bowl filled to the rim with the clearest water, while another set a stone plinth right in front of Lucie. He gently placed the golden bowl on the plinth, sending a slight ripple through its water.

The Seelie Queen stepped forward, facing Lucie on the other side of the bowl.

"Nephilim are so obsessed with getting everything as correctly as possible onto paper. The Accords are, what, six hundred pages long? You can't possibly expect us to read all that, can you?"

A few of the Faeries surrounding them chuckled lightly.

"It is rather ironic that you Nephilim know so little about the history of this world. Unlike us Faeries. Especially when it comes to how the different Downworlder species came to be."

Lucie couldn't hold back a remark: "Excuse us for being a - in comparison - relatively young species."

"Yes, of course. I recall the day you were brought into this world - out of necessity. Always so duty-orientated, you Shadowhunters. As are you. You think it is your duty to hate the Downworlder part of you, because Witches are despised by the Nephilim. Because they pose a threat to them. That is what you've been taught for centuries... What no Nephilim will ever tell you is that there was a time when both Shadowhunters and Wizards and Witches lived peacefully, side by side, both fully aware of each other's existence."

She let her hand glide over the surface of the water causing it to roil before calming down again. The water turned a dark shade of liquid silver and a ripple appeared in the centre of the bowl, gradually spreading out to the edge. With it, images emerged from the depths of the water. Images of Shadowhunters, all around the world. Judging by the cities and Mundanes scurrying around in them, it must have been several centuries ago in the Middle Ages. Wizards and Witches were there, too. They were depicted in their everyday lives, not unlike the lives they lived nowadays. Yet something was different. Several scenes appeared where Wizards and Witches interacted with not only Faeries, Warlocks, Werewolves and Vampires - with Shadowhunters, too.

"It was a time where the Shadow World was the closest it has ever come to peace," the Seelie Queen continued her narration. "There was still tension between Nephilim and Downworlders, but it was not as grave as the Accords recall it. Wizarding people knew of the existence of half Angels, they acknowledged Werewolves and Vampires as part of the supernatural community. Although most Witches and Wizards have never been sighted, they couldn't see past the glamour that the other Shadow Beings used to their will ... they had their place among the other Downworlders. They had Demon blood in them like all the others, that was the only thing that mattered. They all did their best to shield their existence from Humans. But then the times changed..."

Lucie watched as the images shifted. Flames started to lick at the edges of depicted scenes.

"Jealousy and the desire for power took over. As it so often did... Nephilim have always been envious of the abilities of Downworlders that come so naturally to us. Yet the Wizards and Witches started relying far too much on the Shadowhunters to deal with their dark magicians. Furthermore, they began to become envious themselves, of the Nephilim, of the sight they possessed: A group of Wizards and Witches were so fascinated by the powers of Shadowhunters, they wanted it for themselves. When the Clave didn't make it public knowledge on how to become a Shadowhunter, they started experiments, started abducting Nephilim, using their blood in the attempt to become half Angel themselves...

"They failed, of course. But the Clave didn't take these attempts lightly. They took it as a threat to Nephilim kind." The flames took over the entire picture. "The Clave thought the only solution was to separate the species. They convinced the other Downworlders to agree with their plan as Wizarding people started challenging the other species. The Wizards and Witches as non-sighted as they were, should no longer be a part of the sighted Shadow World. It was no longer allowed to interact with Wizarding people, unions between Wizards and Nephilim that used to be frowned upon were now forbidden...

"And to cut off the Wizarding community, the Nephilim used the one thing that was more powerful than any weapon of mass destruction: Fear. Especially among Mundanes. The Clave spread fear of magical people amongst the Humans in the world... You and I both know what happened next." The flames roared in the depths of the water. They surrounded Wizards and Witches being burned at the stake. Hundreds of them. "Too occupied with their own safety, the Wizarding World fled into hiding. Not one of them spared another thought about the Nephilim. As they couldn't see past the glamour, stories of Demons and Angels soon became myths. The picture of the warrior, half Human, half Angel, became part of goodnight stories to tell children."

The flames vanished, making way for the Shadow World of today. Wizards and Witches, fully unaware of the Demons lurking in the shadows, of the Shadowhunters keeping an ever so watchful eye on them.

Lucie looked up to the Seelie Queen who was observing her reactions.

In a mere whisper, she asked: "Why are you showing me this?"

"Because the times are changing. In the past, Wizards had to deal with dark magic on their own - with more or less success. Often to the cost of Mundanes. Shadowhunters have been living afraid of Wizards and Witches for far too long..."

"What do you care?"

"_I_ care because Wizards and Witches are part of the Downworld, part of _my_ Shadow World. Have you ever wondered where Wizarding people came from in the first place? They came from _us_. It is time for _my_ children to reclaim their rightful place in the Downworld."

Lucie was speechless. Not only was this a clear statement that Wizards and Witches had descended from the Faeries, the Seelie Queen had openly admitted it. Faeries were never open about anything. After all, they always did their best to hide the truth even if they weren't able to lie.

"I find it highly fascinating which abilities Wizards and Witches have inherited from us. Most of them missed out on sight, but there are a few that practice the art of divination - _with_ success. Not so long ago, a Witch made a prophecy-"

Lucie regained her voice quickly. "I don't believe in prophecies."

"Then I guess it is time you do. Because this prophecy is also about _you_."

Instead of new images, the voice of a woman rang out from the water.

"_... only an army of two worlds will suffice to meet the Dark Lord's allies... the one to unite this army... born to those who have thrice defied the Dark Lord, born as the eighth month rises... and she will claim the force of the Heiress for her own... and when the Dark Lord fails to gain what he doesn't understand, she will have the power to reunite the worlds..."_

Lucie looked up at the Seelie Queen.

"I didn't understand a single thing in this so-called prophecy. What does this have to do with me?"

"A single thing?" The Seelie Queen went round the scrying glass in one swift motion. "This prophecy has _everything_ to do with you."

She took one step after the other towards Lucie who unintentionally made several steps backwards.

"_Born as the eighth month rises_... Sound familiar? If I recall correctly, your birthday is the first of August. _Born to those who have thrice defied the Dark Lord_... your parents defied the Dark Wizard who called himself Lord Voldemort on three separate occasions."

Lucie came to an abrupt halt as the circle of Faeries was closing in behind her. The Seelie Queen continued to approach her until she had invaded enough of Lucie's space. She bent down so that their faces were mere inches apart.

"It is you. You will be the one to reunite the worlds. I just thought I'd give you a fair warning of what will be awaiting you in your future. Now-" The Queen righted herself. In a matter of seconds, she was back on her throne, her slender arms resting on the curves of maple branches. "Let's see what the _Chosen One_ has to offer."

With that, five of the guards pulled out long curved blades. The circle widened again, leaving enough space for combat. What had happened to _just wanting to make her acquaintance_?

"You are breaking the Accords," Lucie cried, her voice wavering. "The Clave-"

"The Clave cannot save you know, Lucie."

With dismay, Lucie realised the Queen was right. What did it matter that the Seelie Court would face prosecution for this? She would already be cut to pieces by Faerie blades by then. If they'll even be prosecuted. The Clave would maybe be glad to have her out of their way.

Lucie tried to prolong the guards advancing towards her as long as possible.

"It is dishonourable to force your opponent to fight without a weapon!" she shouted in the direction of the Seelie Queen, not leaving her eyes from the guards.

"You _have_ a weapon. Quite an extraordinary one, so I've heard."

Lucie didn't know what the Fey had heard. She didn't have one tiny little dagger on her, not one. Just her useless wand.

She saw no other option than to use her bare hands. If she was going to go down, she was going to go down with a fight. Shadowhunter-style. Redcliff-style.

Lucie focused on the nearest guard, his steps toward her. She lunged forward, distracting him with a blow to his stomach. Lucie quickly landed a kick to his wrist holding the blade. He immediately dropped his weapon. She caught it in one swift motion and brought it up in front of her. Just in time. The other guards had closed in on her.

Even though the weaponless guard retreated, Lucie had her hands full. Faeries were known for their agility and speed. She could not yet make up for that in strength and vigour. Let alone without enhancing her abilities through runes beforehand. She was left with her years of training. Years that were only a blink of the eye for her opponents.

Lucie managed to disarm another. But she continuously received more and more slashes into her skin. Not long before her limbs got heavy, her breathing laboured. The heavy blade was quickly thrust out of her hand. She was kicked to the ground by one of the guards while another pointed his sword to her throat.

The meadow had turned deadly silent. There was no commentary from the Queen, no colliding of blades, no amused laughter from the spectators. Everybody watched in silence.

The remaining guard turned to his queen, waiting for further instructions.

"Turns out you aren't the Chosen One after all. My mistake." She didn't sound apologetic at all. To her guard she said: "She has no use for us."

That was it? Lucie couldn't believe what she was hearing. The whole episode in the Seelie Court flashed before her eyes. What had it been about all along?

The only thing that was clear, was the cold metal pressed dangerously onto her throat where it could cause severe damage - if not fatal damage.

To Hell with all reason!

Lucie pulled out her wand. She couldn't remember any spell that would be relevant in this situation. She just pointed it at the guard hovering over her with all the strength she could bring forth.

A golden spark came out of the wand's end.

It sent the guard flying backwards, his blade with him. He landed a foot away from the Seelie Queen who was _smiling_.

Lucie leapt to her feet. Her wand outstretched in front of her.

As if through silent communication, all standing Faeries ventured towards her. While some pulled out weapons of their own, others relied on their bare hands.

Without sparing a second thought, Lucie swished her wand, creating a barely visible barrier between her and the incoming Faeries.

In the distance, she heard the Queen saying: "There she is."

Just as the first Fey started to break through her wall of golden light, Lucie got thrown back onto the ground by a piercing pain radiating out from her forehead.

"Be aware, Lucie." The Seelie Queen was suddenly standing above her. "Your second half is calling."

As darkness took over Lucie's vision, she heard the woman from the scrying glass screeching: "_And only together can they vanquish the darkness set upon our world..."_

_'_

_'_

**A/N:**

**Soooo what do you think? I hope the whole chapter isn't too confusing... **

**Just to clarify: this is in no way canon. It's just how I imagine it.**

**Anyways, hope you enjoy the turn the story's taking. Let me know!**

'

"_This is the start of how it all ends  
__They used to shout my name, now they whisper it"_

_Yellow Flicker Beat by Lorde_


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

_Compass_

'

"Lucie? ... Lucie? ... LUCIE!"

She was pulled back into consciousness by a voice calling her name. Seraphina's voice.

Her eyes remained shut as she heard footsteps running towards her.

"Lucie!"

Somebody shook her by the shoulders, probably Seraphina.

"Lucie! Open your eyes!"

She groaned. "I don't want to." Her voice was hoarse. "I want to sleep."

Seraphina let out a sigh of relief.

"Come on, Lucie. It's no time to sleep now. We have to get back to the castle."

Back to the castle? Where were they in the first place?

Lucie reluctantly opened her eyes, blinking several times. Seraphina's face was hovering in front of her, her features only barely distinguishable in the darkness. Behind her she could see the faint outlines of treetops. All black in the night.

"Where are we?" she asked disorientated.

"You don't know?"

Lucie shook her head. She immediately stopped it. Moving with fast motions was making her dizzy. Her head hurt, a lot.

Seraphina looked her over, worry in her eyes.

"We're in the Forbidden Forest. And we have to get out of here quickly. It's not safe."

Lucie rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't worry about all the Downworlders lurking between the trees. Most of them are harmless, anyway."

"The what?" Seraphina asked with a puzzled expression.

"What?" Lucie asked in return, scratching her head.

Seraphina narrowed her eyes. "You've clearly hit your head hard. You're not making any sense. By the way, what happened to your robes?" She was pointing to the ripped mess that once had been her school robes. "Is that blood?!"

"Maybe ... I don't know."

Seraphina let out another sigh, more exasperated this time.

"We need to get back to the dorm, now!"

She pulled Lucie up to her feet with one forceful yank. As Lucie tried to steady herself, Seraphina held on to her waist to make sure she wouldn't collapse underneath her.

"Can you walk?"

"Mhmm." Lucie made an undistinguishable sound.

"I'll take that as a yes."

Seraphina forced both of them forward. Only very slowly could they make their way back to the castle.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of hooves stomping on the ground. Seraphina was quick to pull them both behind a tree with a massive labyrinth of roots.

"Wait-," Lucie started.

"Sh!"

She ignored her friend. "If _I'm_ not supposed to be here, what are _you_ doing here?"

"Can you keep quiet?" Seraphina hissed. "For the record, I'm here to rescue _you_."

"Rescue me?"

"Yes! I saw you wondering into the Forbidden Forest, so I followed. What were you thinking?"

"I don't think I was thinking at all..." Lucie's comment wasn't meant sarcastic.

"How right you are!" Seraphina spit.

Something wasn't adding up in Lucie's mind.

"Wait ... you saw me? How did you see me?"

"What do you mean?" Seraphina asked irritated. "I just saw you."

Lucie was about ask another question when Seraphina clamped her hand on Lucie's mouth and pulled her further down behind the roots.

Just then, a tall centaur galloped past. A boy was on his back, struggling to hold on. Seraphina watched in amazement as they passed. She had never seen one in real life before and she followed him with her gaze until he vanished out of sight.

When she finally decided that it was clear to go on, she helped Lucie up and on they went.

After what seemed like hours, they finally made it into the Entrance Hall. Lucie found it much harder to creep through the silent castle without being detected when you weren't able to use glamour. Lucie slipped when climbing down the stone steps, pulling Seraphina with her. The two of them tumbled down just a few steps before coming to a stop. Both of them remained still, their hearts pounding, as they listened for anyone who might have come to investigate where all the noise was coming from.

At last, they reached the Slytherin common room. Both of them slumped down on the sofas, exhausted from the treacherous journey back. They were incredible glad, they hadn't acquired any further injuries on the way.

Seraphina was the first to bring herself back on her feet.

In a hushed tone, she said: "We need someone to look after these cuts of yours. And we can't go to Madam Pomfrey, she'll think Merlin knows what..."

Lucie's eyes were falling shut again.

"Don't worry about it. I'll just-" She could only barely keep herself from saying she'll just draw an _Iratze_, a healing rune.

"You'll just what?"

"Eh ... I'll just ... let it heal by itself?" It was Lucie's best guess at the moment. She felt absolutely drained.

"Very funny," Seraphina commented with so much sarcasm, Lucie would've been proud of her if she hadn't already been half asleep. "You just wait here. I'll be right back, ok?"

"Mhm," Lucie mumbled.

After looking a couple of times over her shoulder, Seraphina hurried off to one of the corridors leading to the dorms.

Lucie, in the meantime, let her head fall back onto the edge of the sofa, enjoying the warmth and comfort of the common room. A noise made her open her eyes. It had come from the windows to her left. They had a view into the lake. Not onto the Great Lake, _into_ it. And the noise had been the giant squid accidentally pounding on one of the windows again with one of its long tentacles. Lucie suppressed a laugh which resulted in her hiccupping. She shook her head slowly. This whole situation was making her hysterical.

Just then, Seraphina reappeared, tugging along a first year boy Lucie knew from her classes. Delwyn was his name, she believed. Delwyn Pucey.

The boy didn't seem too pleased to be dragged out of bed at this hour. He hadn't bothered putting anything on top of his striped pyjamas. His brown hair was standing off to all sides and his face was scrunched on the side he'd been lying on.

"What is he doing here?" Lucie asked, more awake by the minute.

"He's here to take care of your wounds," Seraphina said matter-of-factly.

"Him?" Lucie asked again doubtfully.

"Yes, him. His mother is a healer at St Mungo's."

"St Mungo's?"

"The hospital for Wizards and Witches!"

"Right." Lucie didn't notice how annoyed her friend was getting with her.

"Anyway," Seraphina sighed. "I know Delwyn here through his brother, Adrian, who's in my year. He already has some experience with patching up people. Last week, he offered to treat my friend who got stung by Envious Ivy. His mother apparently taught him some tricks."

"I can speak for myself, thank you very much," Delwyn raised his voice for the first time. It was unusually high.

Lucie rolled her eyes out of habit.

Delwyn ignored her display and started rolling up his pyjama sleeves. Like a professional, he asked: "So, where do you have these cuts?"

Since Lucie just shrugged, Seraphina stepped forward and peeled off her robes, revealing several slashes on Lucie's arms and legs. Some deeper than others.

Instead of flinching back, Delwyn came closer and stretched out his hand to touch the skin surrounding the cuts. Most of them were covered with dried blood. Only one particularly nasty one right beneath her shoulder was still bleeding slightly.

"Interesting ... Do they hurt?" Delwyn asked.

Lucie shook her head. They really didn't.

After taking a few more seconds to examine her wounds, Delwyn said: "This doesn't look too bad. I'll just need to clean and close them up. Just this one here-" He pointed to the one still oozing out blood. "This'll need a bandage and some healing potion would help."

"Do you have that?" Seraphina asked.

"No, I'll ask my mum to send some."

"Thanks," Seraphina said while patting his shoulder.

"No big deal," Delwyn shrugged it off. "How did you get these injuries anyways? Do I need to worry about them being poisoned?"

"A definite no to the poisoned part," Lucie said. "An 'I don't know' to the first one."

"Seriously?" he raised his eyebrows, turning to Seraphina.

"Yes," grunted Seraphina. "My best guess is sleepwalking."

Delwyn just snorted. "I'll get to work then."

With that, he started treating Lucie's cuts, one after the other. He murmured several incantations while he let his wand wander over her skin. Lucie watched in fascination as her wounds were first cleaned of the dried blood and then the surrounding skin began growing the slashed parts together. A pleasant tingling feeling spread from the healing wounds. It was like using an _Iratze_, only without the slight sting of the stele carving into skin.

Soon, Lucie's eyelids were getting heavy again. Delwyn's constant murmur together with the spreading numbness in her limbs sent her off into a light slumber.

Just as there was a tight pull on her upper arm where Delwyn secured a bandage, Lucie opened her eyes again to find Seraphina standing in the same position she had an hour before, her arms crossed and her eyes fixed on Delwyn's working hands.

"That's it, I'm done," Delwyn said, sliding his wand back into a pocket of his pyjamas.

"Thank you, Delwyn," Seraphina said as Lucie murmured a sleepy thanks.

"No worries, I had my fun."

It was Seraphina's turn to snort.

"You won't ... you know ..."

"Tell anyone?" he asked.

Seraphina nodded slowly.

"I won't. I have medical confidentiality after all."

Seraphina and Lucie could barely hold back from rolling their eyes as Delwyn turned on his heel and nearly hopped back to his dorm. Lucie had the suspicion he was feeling a bit too proud of himself.

"Alright," Seraphina yawned, showing the first sign of her actually being tired. "Let's also get to bed."

Quite naturally, she reached down to pull Lucie onto her feet. Lucie, however, stopped her by gripping her forearm.

"What is it?" Seraphina asked, her tiredness now clearly visible.

Lucie swallowed before saying: "I never said thank you."

Seraphina's exhausted features curled up into a smile. "That's alright. You're my friend ... that's what friends do," she added jokingly.

"Still, thank you."

"You're welcome."

They remained silent for a moment before Lucie asked: "What do you _really_ think happened back in the forest?"

"I _really_ don't know, but I'm figuring you'll tell me when you're ready." To Lucie it sounded more than genuine.

Just as they were about to part ways to enter their respective dorms, Lucie stopped them. Something was itching at the back of her mind. She was trying to piece together tonight's events yet it all remained somewhat blurry. It was as if her mind wasn't able to process the night. Everything seemed like a dream to her. Maybe she had been sleep walking after all.

"Wait-"

Seraphina turned around to face her questioningly.

"I think ... I think I used magic tonight. I used my wand."

"Successfully?" she asked.

"Yes, successfully," Lucie answered, her brows furrowed as her mind was working away fast.

A wide grin appeared on Seraphina's face as she pulled Lucie into a hug.

"That's great!" She sounded as excited as you could when you were whispering.

A warm feeling spread from Lucie's stomach all over her body. Even though she had trouble understanding what had exactly happened tonight, she still thought this had been the best night she'd had at Hogwarts so far.

Exhausted from it all, Lucie didn't bother to pull on pyjamas. She just collapsed onto her bed and soon fell sound asleep. The last thought that crossed her mind before she was overtaken by a dreamless sleep was that she realised her bed was the comfiest one she had ever laid in and that the green of the curtains was truly a beautiful colour.

'

'

**A/N:**

"_If we make it out alive, from the depths of the seas  
__Compass points you anywhere  
__Closer to me  
__Where you are, I will be"_

_Compass by Zella Day_


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

_Brand New Day_

'

Lucie woke with a start as all the other girls in her dorm were getting ready for the day. Her muscles ached and her head was pounding. Nonetheless, she felt as if she had never slept so well.

She scrambled out of bed, quickly pulling on a pair of school robes that wasn't shredded to rags. After pulling her hair up in a ponytail, she rushed out of the dorm, accidentally bumping into an annoyed Pansy Parkinson who seemed to be taking extra care in getting every single hair into her bun.

In the Great Hall, Lucie had a hasted breakfast. She caught the eye of Seraphina who was sitting with her third year friends further along the Slytherin table. Her friend winked at her before returning to the conversation in her group.

Lucie noticed with astonishment that her spirits were quite high for this hour of the day, let alone for being at Hogwarts. She wasn't even disturbed by the grey owl coming down to sit next to her plate as it had several times over the past weeks. The owl hadn't brought any post since the mysterious envelope, yet it often came to just hover around Lucie. She doubted it was because the owl enjoyed her company, much more because it usually nibbled on her toast.

'

In Transfiguration class, Lucie usually sat next to an equally bored Tracey Davis. This day, however, was different. Shortly before the bell rang, Delwyn came up next to Tracey's desk. He motioned her to swap places with him to which Tracey just shrugged, stood up and marched to Delwyn's usual seat.

Lucie watched with raised eyebrows as Delwyn made himself comfortable next to her. He unpacked his copy of _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_, a roll of parchment, his quill and ink, displaying it all neatly on his desk. When he had finished, he looked up at Lucie.

"What?" he asked, bewildered by the expression on her face.

"I could ask you the exact same thing," Lucie retorted while her eyebrows nearly disappeared beneath her hairline.

"I have no idea what you mean."

Lucie sighed. "Did Seraphina send you to check on me?"

"First of all: I haven't seen your sister all morning. Second of all: Why would she have the idea to do that?" Delwyn made sure to display all his answers to Lucie's question.

"My sister?" Lucie asked, her voice dropping to a whisper since Professor McGonagall had started the lesson.

"Yes, isn't she your sister?" Delwyn whispered back.

"No!" she hissed. "Why would you think that? We don't even look alike."

"Oh, I just figured by the way she was behaving towards you yesterday... Seemed very, eh, big sister-like ... my mistake."

Delwyn pulled back and laid his focus on the teacher at the front of the class. Lucie shook her head silently before she, too, fixed her gaze on McGonagall, letting the lecture wash over her.

About halfway through the class, Delwyn turned his head in Lucie's direction again. He poked his elbow into her ribs, accidentally hitting a bruise from the day before. In the hurry this morning, Lucie had forgotten to apply an _Iratze_ to speed up the healing process. Not that she was officially allowed to do so, anyways.

"Ouch!" she hissed, sending him a death glare.

"Merlin's beard, I'm sorry. I thought you just had those cuts on your arms and legs."

"Obviously _not_," Lucie pressed out through gritted teeth.

Delwyn tried it with an apologetic smile but decided against catching her attention again throughout the remainder of the class.

'

As the Slytherins packed their stuff and made their way to Charms together with the Ravenclaw first years, Delwyn stayed at Lucie's side. They both trotted behind the other Slytherins which Delwyn saw as the perfect opportunity to carry on with their conversation.

"Now seriously," he began. "How are you feeling today?"

Lucie rolled her eyes. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Wait, let me think ...," Lucie said, dramatically stroking her chin in deep thought. "Yes, I'm sure now. I'm _fine_."

"Just wanted to make sure." Delwyn held the free hand - that was not holding on to his heavy school bag - up in the air in defence. "You know, as part of the healer-patient-relationship."

Lucie had to laugh. "You call yourself a healer?" she scoffed.

Delwyn remained completely serious. "You have to admit you're impressed with what I did last night."

"Maybe," Lucie admitted unwillingly. "But those were just minor injuries. Can you say that you've dealt with a cut-off arm that had to be sewn back on while the patient was bleeding to death?"

"Can you?" he asked in return without flinching the slightest.

"I've seen it."

"How come?"

Lucie thought about it. "My family's the, er ... _reckless_ kind."

"Interesting," Delwyn commented soberly. "Then I look forward to patching you up again in the future ... you know, so I can call myself a healer some day."

And with that, he slipped into the classroom in front of a group of Ravenclaws so that Lucie didn't have a chance to send back a sarcastic comment.

'

At lunch, Lucie felt even more cheery.

In Charms, Professor Flitwick had taught them the hand movement for a wand-lighting charm. He had pulled curtains in front of the windows, making the classroom as dark as possible. Simultaneously with the other students, Lucie had tried to ignite the tip of her wand. And she had succeeded. At first she hadn't been able to believe her eyes when after a murmured _Lumos_, a light had actually spread out from her wand.

Lucie felt so cheery that she didn't mind it the least, when Delwyn sat down next to her, chatting away about their last lesson. She minded it even less when Seraphina showed up and took a seat across from her instead with her older group of friends.

They stayed like this for the entirety of the lunch break. Lucie watched in amusement as Seraphina and Delwyn got into a heated discussion as to why and since when Professor Flitwick had been stuttering.

"Well, what do _you_ think, Lucie?" Delwyn asked her, interrupting her thoughts.

"I haven't really thought about it that much, so ...," Lucie let her answer hang in the air as she snatched a grape that had fallen off Seraphina's plate.

"Hey! That was mine!" Seraphina wasn't too amused about it.

Lucie grinned. "Too late."

When she had finished chewing, she added: "But for all I know, he could be faking it."

Seraphina raised her eyebrows. "I didn't know you were so into conspiracy theories."

"I'm not."

"But that's a good one," she shrugged.

Delwyn piped in: "But why would he fake something like that? What does he gain with it?"

"Don't ask me." It was Lucie's turn to shrug. "But if I've learnt something about the _mysterious Wizarding World -_" She paused. "- it's that nothing is as it seems."

All three of them burst out laughing.

* * *

As the weeks went on and March turned into April, Lucie found herself more and more invested in her life at Hogwarts. She realised that there was a lot you could miss when you had been trying to avoid using magic at all costs. Luckily, as the weather grew warmer outside, so did Delwyn attach himself more and more to Lucie's side. He more than willingly offered himself to give her tutoring lessons.

And so Lucie spent most of her afternoons huddled in a corner of the Slytherin common room or the library with Delwyn, Seraphina often times joining them. Together, they revised their first year lessons from Astronomy to Defence Against the Dark Arts. Delwyn proved to be rather patient even when Lucie's leg started jumping up and down again and she complained about sitting around for too long. Early on, he had expressed his ambition to become a healer like his mother, if even a better one - for that reason, revision never was too early as he needed top grades to follow his goal.

Lucie had to admit that it wasn't just Delwyn's tutoring skills she was thankful for. She had come to care for the young Wizard as well as for Seraphina. Spending time with them was easy. She didn't have to think about her Shadowhunter training, her family's worries or the prying eyes of the Clave when she was with them. Soon, it became a habit to meet for lunch, to walk to class together, to whisper sarcastic comments back and forth during lessons. Maybe Wizarding people weren't that bad after all.

Going home on the weekends became therefore more difficult. Lucie didn't feel like telling her aunt and uncle about her progress at Hogwarts. She doubted it would make them proud. She didn't tell Kayden what it felt like to use a wand, how exhilarating it could be to successfully perform a spell. And most of all, she hadn't talked to Abigail again after their fight.

Now that the Redcliff family knew of Abigail's completion of her training, they were all very excited about attending the ceremony in Alicante. Aunt Jodie was in the middle of arranging their stay in Idris with the rest of the Redcliffs and letters of congratulations reached the Institute every week. It was custom for Shadowhunters of age to travel to other Institutes around the world and since Abigail had announced that she would be spending her year abroad at the La Paz Institute in Bolivia, she herself had been busy with the preparations for her transition there. Lucie never seemed to catch the right moment to speak to her alone. This was her time to shine, after all.

Shortly before the Easter holidays, Lucie was sitting on the stone steps of the Hogwarts castle, Seraphina and Delwyn beside her. The latter had his nose buried deep into a book about poisonous plants.

"_Snatching Fig and the usual suspects_? Really?" Seraphina swooped for the book, but Delwyn was holding it firmly in his hands. "That's second year material, _late_ second year. I'm one hundred percent sure you won't be needing that in your exams."

"Maybe not," Delwyn defended himself. "But it's always good to have additional references in your head that you can use."

"Trust me, you don't need that, Del," Seraphina tried to convince him.

"- wyn."

"What?"

"It's Del-wyn. Not Del," he said firmly.

The older Witch scoffed. "Ever heard of nicknames?"

"Yes," Delwyn said. "But that's a terrible one."

"What?" Seraphina uttered, hurt in her dignity. "_I_ come up with great nicknames. Right, Lu?"

"Hm?" Lucie had been deep in thought.

Delwyn interrupted: "Because cutting off the first syllable of every name is a great method for nicknames."

"You don't mind me calling you Lu, do you?" Seraphina was trying to get Lucie on her side.

"Well ..." Lucie looked apologetically in Delwyn's direction. "My cousins already call me that so I'm used to the mental torture of a horrible nickname so ..."

"See!" Delwyn exclaimed. "She doesn't like it, too!"

"Oh, she's just being over-dramatic. You have to shorten a name somehow. I mean, how tiring would it be to call me Seraphina instead of Sera _every single time_ you talk to me."

"I _do_ call you Seraphina every single time," he protested.

"Me too," Lucie admitted

"And isn't it tiring?" Seraphina refused to stand down. "Come on, now. Delwyn Pucey. What. A. Name. You have to do something about that, don't you?"

Lucie snickered.

"Well, that is hardly my fault, now, is it?" Delwyn said. His book lay forgotten beside him on the steps.

"Of course not." Seraphina gave him a slap on the shoulder. "But we can do something about it, can't we?" She looked at both of them. "So let's think ... if not Del. How about Dellie?" He just needed to give her a death glare. "Not that one either. Delwyn, Del, Wyn ... that's it! What about Wyn?" Seraphina looked far too proud of herself.

Delwyn opened his mouth to say something against it, but then shut it again. Both he and Lucie had to admit, it was quite alright for a nickname.

"Then it's official?" Seraphina exclaimed gleefully. "I'm the official delegate for nickname-giving."

Lucie rolled her eyes. "Fine with me."

"Great! So next order of business is as to why you're leaving for the holidays!" Seraphina gave her friend a questioning look. "Over Christmas, I get. But Easter? Nobody leaves for Easter!"

"Yeah, it's like the main studying time!" Delwyn added.

"Erm ... there's a family thing. I have to be there."

"During the Easter holidays?" Wyn asked. "Is it like a religious Muggle thing?"

Lucie didn't know enough about Mundane religion so she just said, more or less convincing: "Sure." She hoped that would get the topic out of their heads.

"Interesting," his gaze turned all foggy as if he was staring into the depths of his brain. It was his thinking-face, as Lucie had noticed over time. "So you're family is Christian and involved in violent stuff where people's arms get torn off..."

Sera looked at both of them in confusion. She had no idea what Delwyn was talking about.

"So are you and your relatives like a modern version of the crusaders?" Wyn finally asked just as a few Gryffindor students were passing them on the steps.

Lucie nearly choked on the air she was breathing in. "Wh - what?"

"You know, crusaders. The knights who fought in the religious wars back in the Middle Ages..."

"How do you know so much about Muggle history?" Seraphina interfered.

"Dad's a history professor," Delwyn explained quickly before turning back to Lucie.

Her head was spinning. The irony of it all was too much for her to handle. The first Nephilim had actually been a crusader - before he had faced the Angel Raziel who had turned him into a Shadowhunter. Not that Delwyn needed to know that.

She struggled for an answer. "Well, no. Erm, my family's not that religious. It's just tradition on ... Easter to gather as a family ..." Lucie was thinking on her feet. What was that about Mundanes having armed forces? "And about the violent stuff, er, my aunt and uncle were in the, er, British Army."

"Did one of their arms get ripped off?" Delwyn continued to probe.

Seraphina was seriously concerned. "We're talking about arms getting ripped off?"

"Yeah ... my uncle's." That was a lie. It had happened to Matthew's sister who was working in Addis Abeba with nowadays two fully functional arms.

"And you were there when it happened?" Seraphina asked horrified.

"Not exactly. But my ... uncle showed me pictures and gave me a vivid description." Also a lie.

"Why would he do that?"

"Erm, he doesn't think much of child protection in that sense." That was kind of true. Uncle Matthew thought that everybody could handle the truth, no matter how harsh it was.

'

'

**A/N:**

"_I need to break out  
__And make a new name  
__Let's open our eyes  
__To the brand new day"_

_Brand New Day by Ryan Star_


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

_Where Do We Go From Here_

'

"I know now what I want my new look to be."

Lucie was leaning against the frame of the door to Abigail's room. Her cousin was packing and, for the first time in Lucie's life, Abi's room looked a mess. Clothes were strewn across the bed and floor. Stray papers covered her desk.

It was the week after Abigail's ceremony to becoming a full Shadowhunter. She had received her Angelic rune and was now proudly displaying it across her right collarbone. They had spent a few days in Idris, the Shadowhunter home country, where they had stayed in the Redcliff manor.

"Good for you!" Abigail replied, visibly irritated. "Now, as you can see, I'm busy."

"You're always busy."

"Well, this time I'm _really_ busy."

Lucie ignored her cousin's display of annoyance at her presence. If she didn't start their conversation now, she wouldn't do it all the while Abigail was in Bolivia. This was her last chance.

"You remember in Alicante, the one teacher that was there from the Academy: Ms Alder-something."

"Aldertree."

"Yes, Ms Aldertree. You remember she had red hair like me?" Abigail was just gaping at her as Lucie let herself slop down on her bed. "She was wearing it short, like a bit above shoulder length. I think I'd like my hair that way. I feel like my long hair always gets in the way-"

"You always wear it in a ponytail. It can't get in your way," her cousin snapped.

"That's exactly why I do it," Lucie said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Lately, I feel like changing it up a bit ... Ms Aldertree looked very fierce with that haircut. You think it would suit me, too?"

Abigail sighed and put her hands on her hips. "What do you want, Lucie?"

"Isn't it clear? I want your professional opinion."

Abigail narrowed her eyes. She looked far more dangerous to Lucie like that than she ever had with a Seraph blade in each hand.

"I'll ask one last time. Why. Are. You. Here?"

Lucie felt like backing up against the wall. Instead she took a deep breath in before saying: "I couldn't let you leave like this." She raised her eyes to meet Abigail's gaze. "I truly am sorry. For everything. And I couldn't bear the thought of you leaving for a year or longer without hearing it again ... I was too obsessed with myself, with feeling sorry for myself that I didn't even realise how this whole situation was affecting you and the others ... I know it's not my place to ask you to forgive me - but when I left for Hogwarts, Kayden gave me something to remember him by... so I guess it's only fair that you get something as well. Not that you think about getting adopted by the Head of the La Paz Institute, because I'm sure they'll love you."

Lucie's voice faltered. It was getting harder to speak. "So I brought you this." She pulled out several buttons out of her pocket, each one with a different pattern. "I've noticed that a few of the buttons on that blue coat you wear so often have fallen off. And since you're going to need it in Bolivia, cause, well, I read it's high up in the mountains and it probably gets cold up there ..." She noticed that she was babbling unnecessarily, but Abigail didn't interrupt her. "Whatever. Er ... so I thought you could replace them with these ... A few weeks ago, in Transfiguration class, we were supposed to turn beetles into coat buttons. Well, I failed miserably, then. But the other week I tried it again and it worked - as you can see ... They're actually supposed to be black, but I thought you'd like them more this way, more fashionable. And I want to give you Aunt Jodie's old Hunting jacket. It belongs to you, after all..."

Lucie didn't know what else to say so she waited for Abigail to break the silence.

"Well, first of all, I'm proud of you for using the word fashionable in a sentence," she started to which Lucie let out a sigh of relief. "Second of all: You can be glad to have come up with the idea of the buttons. If you'd only come to me with Mum's leather jacket, I'd have thrown you right out again."

"Wh - why?"

"Because." She relaxed her stance and let her arms fall to her side. "I don't want her old jacket. Not anymore. You see how long my arms are in comparison to Mum's? Her jacket would be _way_ too short for me. Plus, it doesn't _belong_ to me. Mum gave to the Redcliff daughter who needed it the most. That's not me. I'm pretty comfortable with me being a Shadowhunter. You ... well, not so much."

Lucie had to laugh. "That's true."

Abigail gave her a small smile.

"But I see you're improving?" She pointed to the buttons displayed in Lucie's hand. "Did you do that with your wand?"

"Yes." Lucie wasn't trying to hide her sense of accomplishment.

"How did it feel?"

"Using my wand?"

Abigail nodded.

"As if I'm the most powerful being in the universe. As if ... everything suddenly makes sense."

Her cousin's smile grew wider. "That's how I felt when I drew the first rune on my skin myself. Like I'm a complete person now."

Lucie frowned. "Do you think that's what I'm supposed to be? A Witch, but not a Shadowhunter?"

"I don't think so." Abigail shook her head as she sat down next to Lucie. "I strongly believe you're meant to be both."

"How can you be sure?"

"Cause it's in your blood."

Lucie couldn't argue that so she just laid her head on her taller cousin's shoulder. After a while, Abigail pushed her off, saying: "Let's see if those buttons of yours are as _fashionable_ as you say they are... Although it is a bit creepy that these used to be beetles, still I'm impressed. But can they turn back after a while?"

Lucie shook her head. "Not that I know of."

Abigail got up from her bed, pulling out the blue coat from her half-packed suitcase. "You guessed correctly, I am taking it with me. I was hoping I'll be able to find new buttons in Bolivia, but now I don't have to." She held the buttons to the fabric. "They do match perfectly. Thank you," she said. And she meant every word.

"You're very welcome ... So everything's good between us?" Lucie asked carefully.

"Yes! All I wanted was for you to think a little more outside of your own head."

"Well, you definitely managed that..."

"Come here." Abigail pulled her into a hug.

As they broke apart, Lucie said: "I can't believe you're leaving us for a year!"

"I know," Abigail replied. "But it'll all work out. A fresh start is what I need right now."

"I'm sure you'll have loads of fun. Going on Hunts. Eating Bolivian food. Dancing with foreign boys."

Her cousin just laughed at that. "Yeah, that's _exactly_ what I'll be doing."

They both smiled at each other. Both content with the situation they were in at this very moment. Then, out of the blue, Lucie said: "You know, I did mean that, earlier. I'm thinking about getting a new haircut."

She really did. If she had to put up with her red hair, she could at least make something out of it. The Academy teacher in Alicante had inspired her. Maybe it was time to show what was inside her - even if it was only through a fierce hair cut, for the mean time anyways.

"No way!" Abigail nearly shouted. "That wasn't just your weird way of starting an unpleasant conversation?"

Lucie snorted. "No!"

"Then can I say that I'm as proud of you for wanting to do something with your hair as I am for you finally doing magic? If not more?"

"Totally." Lucie wasn't the slightest bit offended. In the past, she'd just never bothered with it.

"Let's make a deal. I'll cut your hair the way you want it if you help me pack the rest of my things."

"Deal. But wait," Lucie paused. "Do you even know how to cut hair?"

"Excuse me?" Abigail pointedly placed a hand on her chest. "I've been cutting Mum's hair for ages and she doesn't look like she stuck a finger into a ley line, does she?"

"Of course not."

"I thought so," Abigail said, breaking into a smile. "Alright, first packing, then cutting. Sound's good?"

Lucie nodded and so they set to work.

'

A couple of hours later, Lucie sat on a stool in Abigail's room. Hair wet and combed out, so that it fell straight down her back. Abigail stood behind her, a pair of scissors in her hand. Around them was the product of their last hours of work: Three heavy suit cases, two bulky bags and one long case holding her cherished Seraph blades.

"I find it kind of ironic that you're the one with red hair in our family," Abigail said as she was cutting away at her cousin's hair.

"Why would you find it ironic? It's genetically only possible for me to have red hair in the Redcliff line."

"Because, you're also the Witch in the family."

"So?" Lucie wanted to look up at her cousin but decided against it since Abigail was working with scissors behind her back.

"Well, in the Middle Ages, Mundanes believed that people, especially women, with red hair had magical powers. And those were the ones who were persecuted and burned at the stake." Lucie unwillingly flinched. Unpleasant memories surfaced, memories of burning people. But were they really memories? She couldn't be sure. Everything was mixed together in her head.

Instead, she asked: "How come you know so much about Mundane history?"

"It's Josh. Ever since you've gone off to Hogwarts, he's been obsessed with everything related to the Wizarding World. He keeps telling us over dinner what he read the other day."

Lucie snorted. She could vividly see her little cousin chatting excitedly about magical people while everybody else at the table was staring uncomfortably at their plate.

"Alright, I'm done," Abigail said in a grand gesture. She yanked the wet towel off of Lucie's shoulders, letting a shower of hair fall onto the ground. "Come, on," she motioned Lucie to get up and follow her to the full-length mirror on the wall of her room.

Lucie approached the mirror gingerly. She wasn't sure what to expect. She prayed to the Angels that she hadn't made a huge mistake by letting Abigail near her with a sharp pair of scissors. As she stood in front of it, studying her reflection, she let out a content sigh.

This was her. Rune on the back of her hand, wand in the pocket of her jacket. Black clothes. Light skin, hazel eyes. And red hair, cut short, the tips of it already curling as it dried and settling on her shoulders.

"If you want your hair pulled back now, you can just take the upper part like this..." Abigail showed her cousin. "And put it into a bun. The rest you can leave down."

"I love it," Lucie said, not lifting her eyes from her reflection.

Abigail let go of her hair and bent down to settle her chin on Lucie's shoulder from behind.

Suddenly, the door was forced open and Kayden strode into the room.

"There you are! Dad says, dinner's ready." He stopped dead in his tracks as he saw the two of them in front of the mirror. He approached Lucie from the other side and tangled his fingers in her much shorter hair.

"That's different ... it looks great."

Lucie and Abigail just grinned as Kayden let his hand rest on Lucie's other shoulder. The three of them stayed there, staring at their reflections.

* * *

As it turned out, cutting your hair short was also a big deal in the Wizarding World. How _Mundane_. Both Sera and Delwyn complemented her new look and even Daphne Greengrass stopped to say how her haircut brought out her best features. Lucie couldn't say that she minded it.

Over the next weeks, however, something kept itching in the back of her mind. There was something left she had to do.

And so one afternoon, when she could escape Wyn who wanted her to quiz him on Jupiter's moons, Lucie made her way to the dungeons and knocked on the door to Snape's office. It was still as dark and dusty as she remembered, the bottles and flasks on the shelves still filled with unpleasant parts of plant and animal.

"Miss Radcliffe?" Professor Snape asked in surprise. She was apparenly the last person he was expecting in his office.

"Professor," Lucie started hesitantly. "May I ask you something?"

"Certainly," Snape drew out and motioned her to sit down.

Lucie gathered up her courage. She could do this. She had to. Otherwise it would keep on bothering her. "How much do you know? ... About, about me?"

Snape studied her carefully before answering: "I know as much as the Headmaster has told me ... I know where you go on the weekends, I know who your aunt and uncle are, I know what you hide on your skin." He gestured to Lucie's right hand where they both knew her Voyance rune to be. She unintentionally slid it out of sight between her robes.

"Is that all?" Lucie breathed out.

"No ..." Snape held her gaze before continuing. "I knew your parents."

Lucie drew in a sharp breath yet she didn't move her eyes down to her hands. Not this time.

"You knew them?" she asked, her voice feeble.

"Yes."

"What were they like?" she allowed herself to ask the question she had never dared ask Aunt Jodie.

Silence stretched between them until Lucie couldn't take it anymore.

"I'm sorry, Professor. I shouldn't have asked." She hurriedly got up and wanted to leave before she was stopped.

"Wait."

Snape had stood up, too, and he strode towards her, his black robes billowing behind him. He towered over Lucie and seemed to have a whole lot of re-evaluating to do before speaking again.

"I knew your parents when they were young ... Your mother, she was a wonderful Witch. Brilliant, beautiful ... Red hair like yours..."

"And my father?"

"Your father was ... brilliant, in his own ways. As he had grown up to be a Shadowhunter, he was quite confident of his abilities. And when it became evident that he wasn't untalented with magic either, he let arrogance get the better of him."

The wheels in Lucie's head were turning. The picture of her parents grew clearer in her mind.

"Professor, if - if you don't mind me asking ... how did you know that my father was a Shadowhunter?"

"For someone who'd heard of the legend of the Heavenly warriors who rid Demons off this earth, Angel blood in their veins, it wasn't hard to miss ... When I was younger, I was very interested in myths and ancient symbols; as soon as I saw your father one time with his runes displayed openly as he was sneaking through the castle, I knew what he was. He wasn't as careful as you are. As I said, he let arrogance get the better of him. He became lazy. Lucky for him that no one else who accidentally saw him knew enough to put the pieces together."

"Do you know why he left the Nephilim in the end?" Another burning question left Lucie's mouth.

"That I don't know," Snape answered. "Although I believe it became easier for him to just be a Wizard than to live a double life."

"Did my mother ever know?"

"I don't believe so. As far as I know, he took that secret with him to the grave."

"Professor ... how did my parents die?"

Snape hesitated. He was treading dangerous ground. Dumbledore's instructions had been clear concerning what they weren't allowed to tell Lucie Radcliffe.

"They were killed by a dark Wizard."

"Why?"

"Because ... they had dared to defy him. Several times. They weren't able to fight him off another time."

Lucie swallowed hard. She could take the truth, she knew she could. Nonetheless, it was hard hearing what had actually happened. As a Shadowhunter, it was supposed to be easy to decide who was good and who was evil. Demons being the latter. The enemy was clear. Killing each other had never been an issue. But the Mortal and Dark War spoke of a different tale. Shadowhunters had fought against Shadowhunters, many had died in the process. So what was Lucie to do with the fact that the Wizarding World was just as messed up as the Shadow World?

"Professor," she addressed Snape. "Does your offer still stand regarding private lessons?"

If this question provoked any reaction from Snape, he didn't show it. Instead he answered with a simple yes.

"I don't need help with my regular classes anymore," Lucie said. "A friend is helping me with that."

"So I've seen."

"But I want to learn how to defend myself, how to attack... Someone has opened my eyes to the fact that I have a power and that I owe it to myself to learn how to use it." Lucie took a deep breath in. "I don't want to end up like my parents."

Snape studied her for a moment, before saying: "Then I suggest we start now."

'

'

**A/N:**

"_Like waking up from a fantasy  
__In all that's left is you and me  
__We're invincible in a violet sea  
__Dare to move  
__Dare to believe"_

_Where Do We Go From Here by Ruelle_


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

_Dog Days Are Over_

'

The rest of the school year flew by. Lucie managed to survive her first exams at Hogwarts - thanks to Delwyn's tutoring and Snape's private lessons. Since she'd been able to use her wand properly, all the dry theory made more and more sense the further she got. Finally, everything seemed to snap into place. She didn't neglect her Shadowhunter training, of course - her training room still remained a sanctuary for her when her muscles started fidgeting from all the time sitting around, her back bent over a book.

Her results even turned out to be quite alright. Most of her classes settled around average. Delwyn had earned himself near perfect marks in all his classes, he'd practically done nothing except studying the weeks beforehand. But he was furious when he learned that a Gryffindor had beat him for first place in the year. Sera had managed to pass third year and she was perfectly fine with just passing; which she had to explain Wyn on several occasions.

Nonetheless, all three of them were glad when the end of the year approached. They were excited about the feast on the last day of school. Sera had already told Lucie and Delwyn that the Great Hall would be decorated all in green and silver since Slytherin had earned the most points this year in the House Cup. Lucie was even more excited since she, too, had contributed to those points when she had shown precision in preparing wattlebees for a draft in Potions.

The anticipation of the end of the year was, however, surpassed by the events that occurred mere days before that. As it turned out, Lucie had guessed correctly when it came to Professor Quirrell's stuttering. The news of him being the servant of You-Know-Who and how Harry Potter had prevented him from obtaining the Philosopher's Stone spread like a wildfire among the student body. The Slytherins didn't seem too impressed by the accomplishments of the Gryffindor first year. They wondered rather how Quirrell's peculiar allegiance had gone unnoticed by the teachers over the whole school year.

None of that mattered when the whole of Slytherin House sat at the long table and celebrated the repeated victory over the other Houses. Lucie found that the Great Hall looked even more splendid with all the silver-green banners hanging from the ceiling, the serpents decorating every column.

Their celebrations were put to an abrupt end when Dumbledore raised his voice to announce that there were still points to award. Lucie, along with Seraphina, Wyn and the rest of the Slytherins watched open-mouthed how Gryffindor inched closer and closer to the Slytherin's total until both Houses were drawn for the House Cup. The Slytherin table fell deadly silent as the Gryffindor one nearly provoked an earthquake with all the noise they were making. Lucie couldn't trust her hearing as she looked to her classmates in confusion. Just then, Dumbledore awarded another ten points to Neville Longbottom of all people. The room erupted with cheers from Gryffindor and even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff.

"Can he do that, just like that?" Lucie asked Sera exasperated.

Seraphina shrugged helplessly: "He is the Headmaster."

"This isn't fair," Delwyn complained, his grin from earlier fading into a frown.

"At least they didn't win the Quidditch Cup as well," Sera tried to lighten the mood. The rest of them sighed and looked gloomily at their plates as Dumbledore changed the green and silver into red and gold.

'

Soon, the time came to board the Hogwarts train again. This time around, Lucie spent the journey sitting more or less still in a compartment along with Sera and Wyn. She didn't once have the desire to escape and run around on the roof of the train. The three of them had too much fun playing Exploding Snap and discussing which teacher was the most annoying.

When they arrived at platform nine-and-three-quarters, Lucie could already spot her aunt and uncle waiting for her. They stood straight against a column, trying to avoid the mass of Wizarding parents. Aunt Jodie was wearing her blue scarf again.

"So these are your relatives, hm?" Sera gestured towards them as they were unloading their trunks.

"How d'you know?"

"They're the ones who look the most like they don't want to be here."

Lucie snorted. "That's one way to put it."

Delwyn studied her aunt and uncle curiously. "Well, they look ..." She raised her eyebrows. "... able-bodied."

Lucie snorted again. "Sure." What friends she had.

"You sure you're gonna be alright over the summer?" Seraphina asked her.

"Of course," Lucie assured her. "It'll be good to spend some time away from you freaks."

"Hey!" exclaimed Wyn. "You're the right one to talk."

Lucie just rolled her eyes as she said goodbye and promised to write them.

"Had a good year?" Uncle Matthew asked her as he picked up her trunk.

"You have no idea," Lucie just said and the three Nephilim quickly made their way off the packed platform.

* * *

The Redcliffs decided to spend the summer in Idris. Lucie knew Alicante and the Redcliff manor in the Brocelind Plain well and she usually enjoyed a trip to the Shadowhunter homeland. The country, concealed from Mundanes in the European continent, had just one city, Alicante, and the rest of the land consisted of grassland and the Brocelind Forest which hid the mysterious Lake Lyn. Not only Nephilim lived there as the Forest was known to shelter several Downworlder clans such as werewolves and vampires. High mountains surrounded Idris and made it nearly impossible to enter the country by land. Lucie and her family used a portal like everyone else going there.

Idris was considered home for the majority of Shadowhunters, even those who spent most of their life in institutes around the world. For Lucie however, the London Institute was home. Sure, she liked visiting Alicante and the rest of the Redcliff family. They usually spent their time training in the Academy or going out on trips in the Brocelind Plain. But it was just that, Lucie only ever _visited_ Idris. Plus, she'd always known that she was different from all her cousins. This time around, this difference was even more evident.

Of course, all of the Redcliff family knew where Lucie had spent the year. And she knew that she was bound to be bombarded with thousands of questions about Wizards and Witches from her little second and third cousins while the older family members would have whispered conversations with her aunt and uncle about how she was doing.

On a particular sunny day, Lucie and Kayden were at the edge of the Brocelind Forest with their cousin Rob, practising their archery skills by shooting at pinecones, when a familiar figure appeared on horseback coming from the Plain. The sun was burning down onto the Plain, the heat visible through the ripples wavering through the air just above the dry yellow steppe-like grass that covered the ground in the summer all the way from Alicante to the Forest. The dark figure could easily be spotted in the bright daylight.

"Aunt Nyunya!" Kayden shouted as he recognised the woman. Uncle Matthew's sister was as tall and as broad as he was. On top of a horse, the three of them had to tilt their heads back the furthest possible to look Nyunya in the face as she rode up to them. Her black skin glinted in the sunlight as did her black-brown eyes and the black mare she sat upon, her height was highlighted even more through the long afro she kept.

Aunt Nyunya swung off her horse Minuit and landed softly on the ground. She was _Aunt_ Nyunya, even to Lucie. She was Aunt Nyunya to all the Redcliff cousins even if she was an Evenridge herself. Nyunya had grown up with the Redcliffs in London like Uncle Matthew had, they were her family just as much as her distant Evenridge cousin in Alicante was.

"Aunt Nyunya, you came, too!" Lucie said happily as she was pulled into a bear hug by her aunt.

"It's been quite some time since I've stayed in Idris for a couple days and since Matthew decided to come as well with the bunch of you, I thought this is the perfect time," she smiled down at the three of them. "Such a shame that Abi isn't here, though. I'd have loved to see her more than just on the day of her Completion. Have you heard from her lately?"

"We got a fire message from her yesterday," Kayden told his aunt. "She says that she really likes La Paz, it's a beautiful city and the other Shadowhunters are great and all that ... although she says that the high altitude needs some getting used to."

"Did you know that La Paz is the highest capital in the world with 2 miles above sea level?" Rob piped in.

"Look who swallowed a geography book!" Aunt Nyunya ruffled through his brown hair.

"Josh is a bad influence on him," commented Lucie.

"I see... But the Andes Mountains really are a wonderful place. Once you get used to the low oxygen levels of the air. You don't see a more beautiful starlit sky anywhere else in the world." She paused. "But I didn't just ride out here to say hello to you all ... I've got news for you two, Kayden and Lucie. Two letters arrived today from the Shadowhunter Academy."

"What do they say?" Kayden asked excitedly.

"Well, we didn't open them, did we?" Aunt Nyunya teased as she climbed back onto Minuit. "Come on, I'll race you back."

Lucie, Kayden and Rob quickly strapped their bows and arrows on their backs. Just in time for Aunt Nyunya to press forward and run ahead of them by minutes.

"I'm sure looking forward to the time when I'm allowed to use my stele on my own. I'd use the _Heightened Speed_ rune and outrun you all," Kayden said while holding his side as all three of them were out of breath.

"Not if I use it, too." Lucie stuck her tongue out at him.

"Then I'll just add _Stamina_ to that."

"Then I'll use that one, too.

"Then I'll add _Swift_."

Rob quickly interrupted their back and forth: "Do you really want to continue this all day?"

Lucie showed her agreement in a truce by bumping into Kayden's shoulder before running up the stone steps into the Redcliff manor in front of the other two.

The Redcliff manor was a grand building out of red sandstone. Several turrets reached high into the sky, their rooftops sealed with black slate tiles. Countless windows were set into the stone, the light behind them growing brighter as the sky got darker outside. The Redcliff manor was built on grounds where there was a big gathering of rocks. Legend said that they were the remnants of a meteorite crashing into what was the Brocelind Plain many millenniums ago. More realistically, they came from the high mountains surrounding Idris. Whichever way, this made the estate surrounding the manor into a maze of scattered rock, most of them overgrown with vines and even some trees had secured their roots around them. Lucie had always loved the Redcliff garden. It was the perfect place to climb and jump around with her other cousins.

Now, Lucie, along with Kayden, was running up to her aunt and uncle who were in the living room with Grandmother Redcliff and several other cousins. Grandmother Redcliff was a proud woman who wasn't any less capable of taking down a Demon despite her hair turning completely grey and her figure more frail - and her now walking around with a silver cane. She was older than most Shadowhunters got and she had lived through two wars when many hadn't survived one.

"Aunt Nyunya said you had letters for us from the Shadowhunter Academy?" Lucie asked Aunt Jodie and Uncle Matthew. She was hoping for good news. Maybe she would reach the next training level. Or even better, she would go on her first Hunt.

"Yes, we received them this afternoon." Aunt Jodie pulled out two envelopes. They both had the seal of the Shadowhunter Academy on it: The Angelic rune with two seraph blades crossed behind it.

Lucie and Kayden simultaneously ripped them open. They both shrieked with joy when they read what was written inside.

"I can't believe it!" Kayden exclaimed. "We're actually getting the official permission to draw runes on ourselves without supervision?"

"It's about time," Lucie grumbled, nevertheless as excited as her cousin.

"Don't get too excited, too soon," Uncle Matthew warned. "First you have to draw the loyalty rune in front of the dean of the Academy and a Clave representative."

"And in front of the family!" Grandmother Redcliff added, sitting more upright than ever.

'

There were many stages to complete in Shadowhunter training. The first rune, the first Hunt, receiving the Angelic rune as completion of training being the big milestones. For the latter, usually the whole family came to celebrate as it was the most important in a Nephilim's life. For the Redcliffs, every even so tiny milestone was a family event. So it came that Lucie and Kayden had more than fifteen relatives accompanying them to the Shadowhunter Academy. There, they all gathered behind the two trainees who faced the dean of the Academy, Maron Underhill, and the representative of the Clave.

"The time has come for you, Kayden and Lucie Redcliff, to take the next step in your training as a Nephilim. In consultation with our teachers and the ones at the London Institute, we have come to the conclusion that you should be allowed to use your own stele on your own without permission from older Shadowhunters." Underhill motioned them to pull out their steles. "With such freedom also comes a great responsibility. We already know that you possess the skill needed to perform complex rune drawings. So we are convinced you will not hurt yourselves through lack of knowledge. But we must also be sure that you don't misuse the gift the Angel has granted you. With the Loyal To rune you pledge your loyalty to the Shadow World. You promise not to speak of it to anyone non-sighted and not to show your runes where they could arouse questions. Will you take such an oath?" He asked them very sternly.

Lucie and Kayden both quickly said yes.

"Good, then let's start with Kayden."

Kayden shot Lucie one last glance before focussing solely on the area of skin underneath his left collarbone. With steady hands he drew the rune. To Lucie the loyalty rune had always looked the curve of an ear with several piercings at the top.

"I pledge myself to the Shadow World and swear to keep it hidden from the Mundane World," Kayden said as he finished the last stroke with his stele.

"Now you, Lucie." Underhill turned to her.

Lucie took a steadying breath in and caught Kayden's reassuring smile as she raised her stele to the spot her cousin had. She had practiced the form of the rune more than enough times, she was ready.

Underhill was watching her carefully, as was the Clave representative. They were both waiting to hear the vow from Lucie. For her, it meant much more than it did for Kayden - she would be spending the next, at least, four years hiding her Shadowhunter-self from the Wizarding community.

With the first streak of her stele, she felt the familiar scrape of the tip into her skin and the tingling burn as the adamas left a trace on her. Lucie repeated the same well-practiced words Kayden had recited and drew the last missing line, only then lifting her stele off of her skin. She watched as the rune darkened out and took its black appearance. This rune was a permanent one, it would stay there, a few inches above of her heart, until the day she died.

"Facilis descensus Averno," the Clave representative recited.

"Facilis descensus Averno," more than a dozen voices repeated. The descent into Hell is easy.

* * *

The Redcliffs had a big family dinner afterwards. All of them, even the little ones, stayed up until late that night. Lucie and Kayden both showed their proud loyalty runes and were beaming all through the next days.

Soon, their summer trip to Idris came to an end and the five Redcliffs of the London Institute had to say their temporary goodbyes.

Just as Lucie was hugging Aunt Nyunya, Grandmother Redcliff came up to her and pulled her aside. Lucie was careful not to trip over her cane as she hurried after her into a deserted hallway.

"Goodbye, Grandmother," Lucie said as she grasped her hand. Grandmother Redcliff didn't do hugs.

"I need to have a talk with you before you go back to London," Grandmother Redcliff informed her. Lucie took a deep breath in. By the Angels, what had she done wrong now. "Abigail told me about the struggles you've been having at that school you go to."

"She did?"

"Don't look so surprised!" Grandmother Redcliff snapped. "She's a smart girl. She understands what everything is really about: What you have in your hands and what you make of it. You hold more in those skinny hands than the others in our family do. That not only makes it a possibility to achieve more than your cousins will, it is also an obligation."

Lucie sighed. "Don't worry, Grandmother. I already got that talk from Abigail."

"As I said, smart girl. But I have a different talk for you." She leaned more on her cane. Lucie could nearly reach her age-bent height. "You know what happened to Reese, your great aunt?" Lucie nodded. "I lost my sister-in-law to magic - and I lost my son to magic. I will not lose my grandchild to magic! Do you understand?" Lucie nodded vigorously again. She was used to her Grandmother being direct. But this was a whole other level of direct.

"The Clave doesn't know what they're doing," Grandmother Redcliff continued. "They think scaring you off of magic will do the trick. Trust me, it doesn't. Reese died because she was too scared. Daniel died because he wasn't scared enough. All Reese wanted to be was a Shadowhunter, all Daniel wanted to be was a Wizard. Neither succeeded." She stared Lucie down. "It's on you to find the middle ground. Don't disappoint me."

And with that she trotted away. Leaving Lucie to see herself out.

That was Grandmother Redcliff. She told what to do. How the Hell you were supposed to do it - that she would never tell.

'

'

**A/N:**

**The way I describe how the Shadowhunter training is set up in this chapter is more or less made up. There are a few points that I took from canon like the first rune you get is the Voyance rune as initiation to your training and what else I could find in my research. The rest is how I imagine Nephilim training would look like.**

**Anyways, hope you enjoy the chapter (sorry for it running a bit late) and make sure to leave feedback!**

'

_"Run fast for your mother and run fast for your father  
__Run for your children, for your sisters and brothers  
__Leave all your love and your longing behind  
__You can't carry it with you if you want to survive"_

_Dog Days Are Over by Florence + the Machine_


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

_Follow Me_

'

Lucie let the dying light of the candle on her desk illuminate the written words one last time. The letter already wasn't in the best state with her scrawly handwriting splayed across the more than slightly crumpled parchment - of course, she'd needed to use the bit that had been ghosting around the bottom of her bag. Either way, she hadn't heard from Abigail for quite a while, so she'd decided this was the perfect time to give that cheeky owl a task.

_Dear Abigail,  
__I hope you're doing well. Hopefully the thin air up there hasn't gotten to your head. I'm the same as usual, as usual as it can get, anyways. The start of term was alright. The most exciting thing that happened was two Gryffindor boys deciding to take a flying car to school and thinking they could get away with it - how silly must they be? Anyways, don't tell Kayden about it; he'll try to get me to grab him one of those. He'll get into enough trouble when he finally steals one of those flying vampire motorcycles.  
__We didn't take the boats to the castle this time. Instead, there were these carriages that were pulled by what seemed like nothing! When I concentrated on the empty space in front for a while, I was able to see the creatures. They looked a bit like horses, but then again not really. They had wings, and I could see straight to their bones - their skin is so translucent and they don't appear to have any visible muscles at all... Do you know what kind of Downworld being they could be? Their glamour must be pretty strong too if it takes a while to spot them even if you are sighted like me. As far as I could tell, the other students didn't see them at all.  
__Aunt Jodie is doing well, as well - she misses you like all of us do, but Josh and Kay are doing their best to keep her busy. Uncle Matthew, too, of course.  
__Oh, and guess what? I've got a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. He's more looks than talent, if you ask me. I suppose we'll see if he turns out to be a better DADA teacher than my previous one ... and the bar's set awfully low, trust me.  
I'm taking private lessons with Professor Snape, he's the Head of my House. He offered them to me last year when I was failing miserably at my classes. The lessons are really great! Hard, but great. Professor Snape focuses mostly on duelling and defensive spells. Last week, I practiced the Disarming Charm. The next time, we'll see each other, I'll knock your seraph blades out of your hands from several feet distance away, just by using my wand!  
__Don't enjoy yourself too much over there! And don't let an Andean Demon kill you! Just saying...  
__Till then, Lucie_

_P.S.  
__I have no idea if this letter will reach you. I see it as a test for the little owl that keeps hanging around my plate at breakfast. Apparently, owls do all the post service in the Wizarding World. I'm curious if this one can fly all the way over the Atlantic Ocean._

_'_

One afternoon midway through October, Lucie was on her way into the Forbidden Forest. The sun was out, but the temperature was getting chillier every day, so she made sure to pull on her warm training clothes. Lucie was continuing her habit to go for a proper run in the forest every now and then. No Wizard or Witch was able to see her as she had put on a glamour rune and she didn't have any problem with running into Downworlders - so she didn't see any harm in it.

As she entered the forest, the brightness of the afternoon sun was swallowed by the thick trees, their branches so tight together that they only let a few rays of light through here and there.

Lucie broke into a run and made her way between the trees, jumping over large roots and dodging low branches. After a good hour, just as she was slowing her pace, she noticed the rustling of leaves above her. She didn't think much of it at first, but as she jogged on, the rustling followed her.

Lucie quickly pulled out her stele and drew _Hearing_ on her neck. A tingling spread out from her eardrum to the outer ear. By concentrating on her hearing, Lucie was able to follow the rustling to the tree to her far right. Maybe a vision-sharpening rune would help as well. She swiftly marked her left arm with _Farsighted_. She felt her eyes opening up and her vision extended so far that she could distinguish each needle of the pine tree she was focussing on. Just as she was scanning the tree for any sign of the thing causing all the rustling, there was movement near the treetop. Lucie looked up quick enough to see a figure jumping to the next tree and behind its trunk. The figure moved so fast that it was blurry to her eyes, yet she could spot a long green tail trailing behind whatever it was.

Lucie stood rooted to the spot as she stared at the exact part of the tree trunk it was hiding behind. Tucking away her stele, she took out her wand and pointed it at the spot where she thought her follower to be. Lucie was already going through the list of spells she could use. The list wasn't terribly long at this point, but she knew she could easily pull off the ones she had already mastered. In only a few months, her wand had turned from an unwanted and useless object to a weapon and a tool Lucie had found could help her in many situations. Sure, Nephilim weapons were still better when it came to killing a Demon, but this was no Demon following her. Demons didn't hide for that long.

All of a sudden, a high pitched sound rang in Lucie's ears. It was _laughter_. Or maybe giggling was a better way to describe it.

"Oh, there's no need to point your wand at me! I'm terribly sorry for frightening you."

Lucie followed the movements of the creature as it jumped down from the trunk and made its way down by swinging from branch to branch.

When it landed just a few feet away from Lucie, she finally had a chance to look at it properly. It was _tiny_. So short, in fact, that Lucie was taller than it by at least two head-lengths. It was, by what Lucie judged, a he. But he was definitely not a human man. On top of his head sat two small curved horns, lime green in colour. The horns matched the long green tail that curled up behind him. Other than that, he was wearing a crimson suit, tailored to his tiny form. His face was very round with bright green eyes and chubby cheeks.

"I'm not frightened," Lucie replied steadily after inspecting him for a moment. She still held her wand pointed at him.

"Then why haven't moved your wand away from me?" His voice had a squeaky tone and he spoke with a thick accent, rolling his r's.

Slowly, she lowered her wand, still keeping it at her side just in case it became needed.

"But where are my manners, eh?" the tiny creature continued in a very fast tempo. "I haven't introduced myself. How rude of me! My sincerest apologies. My name is Fabrizio Agnellini, and I am the Warlock of the Forbidden Forest. That's what you call these woods, no? And you, tesorino, can call me ... Fabrizio."

"Oh ... I'm -"

"Oh, I know who you are!" interrupted Fabrizio. "You're Lucie Redcliff!"

"You know who I am?" stuttered Lucie.

"Of course I know who you are! The whole Shadow World knows who you are! The Wizards and Witches up there in the castle may not know your reputation, but amongst Downworlders you are already famous - as are you amongst Shadowhunters, no?"

"My reputation?" Lucie asked, choosing to ignore the last part.

"Yes, your reputation," Fabrizio said. "You are Lucie Redcliff. You are the one to reunite the worlds. Wasn't it the Seelie Queen who already told you of what lies in your future?"

"The Seelie Queen?" The dulled afternoon light vanished behind a cloud as Lucie searched her memory. "That wasn't a weird dream?" Whenever Lucie had tried to recall the events of that night in the forest, her mind turned foggy and only snippets of images surfaced.

"A dream?" Fabrizio giggled. "Oh, no, you're meeting with the Seelie Court was very real."

"I wouldn't call it a meeting," she grumbled. At the mention of the Seelie Queen, everything had started falling into place in her head. Everything started making sense.

"By the Angel!" Lucie clasped a hand over her mouth.

"You can't thank your Angels for that," Fabrizio said. "Faeries are often very subtle. But if they want to, they can be the exact opposite. So naturally, after your _meeting_ or whatever you want to call it, the news spread like wildfire in the Shadow World. The news of the Chosen One returning!" His last sentence came out as a squeal.

"Angels, not again with the Chosen One rubbish!" Lucie groaned. "I've already told the Seelie Queen that I don't believe in such things."

"But you have to admit that you are special, no?" Fabrizio said. "You are half Shadowhunter, half Witch. You have access to both Angelic and Magic powers - to a full extent."

"That isn't all that special. There have been Nephilim like that before," argued Lucie. She had her arms crossed in front of her chest, her wand still firmly in her right hand.

"And how many do you know of that kind?" Fabrizio asked.

"My father ... and my great-aunt."

"That's two - out of how many Shadowhunters are there? Several ten thousand? Several hundred thousand at the moment?" he estimated. "And if we are talking about all that have lived since the beginning of your kind we would be calculating with millions..."

"Fine!" Lucie said. "Then my kind is rare. So what?"

"You're forgetting that even amongst your kind you are extraordinary. I can tell you, Lucie. I've been here since the beginning. There may have been a few more than two of your kind. But only two handfuls _like_ you."

"Why? Why am I so special?" She was getting tired of asking that question.

Fabrizio wasn't bothered by her rising temper. Instead he continued, his voice as squeaky as ever. "You just have to take a look at your wand to find that answer. It is a wand - the weapon of Wizards and Witches - with a core of adamas - the Angelic material of the Nephilim. The might of two worlds reunited in one elegant piece of wood."

"So I stumbled upon a supposedly powerful wand. Again, so what?"

"Have you forgotten, tesorino? It is the wand that chooses the Witch. Not the other way around. And this wand chose you - that definitely means something, no? Have you taken a closer look at the wood of your wand? No? It is blackthorn wood. Blackthorn wands are wands for warriors. They take quite a bit of time to break in. But as soon as you've survived hardship with it, it will be most loyal to you and to you alone. Doesn't that sound familiar? It is a wand made for power, made for overcoming boundaries."

Lucie stared at the tiny creature before her. He could very well be more than a thousand years old. He didn't look it, but it was foolish to underestimate your opponent.

"Why are you telling me this? Why are you here?" She had the strange sensation of repeating herself.

"I'm here to show you what you can do with this powerful wand of yours. You've already shown a bit in the Seelie Court, but there's so much more you can do. It is time you learnt how to use your wand properly."

"Thank you for the offer, but there's no need. I already have a tutor."

"That teacher of yours? What he can show you is limited to his Wizarding understanding - just spells, charms and potions. What I can show you is unlimited... Let me give you a little demonstration if you don't mind."

And with that he waved his hands, green mist emerging from his pointed finger tips.

Lucie watched in awe as he shot a ball of green light into the nearest tree. The tree responded by shrinking in size to reach lower than Lucie's height. Fabrizio proceeded on doing the same to the other surrounding trees until rays of sunlight broke through the ceiling of the forest. Suddenly, Lucie found herself to be standing in the middle of a clearing instead of the dark and dense woods. The clearing got bigger and bigger until Fabrizio decided he had played enough with the trees that looked like they'd been dipped into various different buckets of paint. He had arranged them to form a maze around Lucie with her being the centre of rows and rows of rainbow-coloured trees.

Lucie tore her gaze away from the ground around her as the rays of the sun seemed to _thicken_ as they made their way from the sky down onto the surface of the earth. She couldn't believe her eyes as the golden light of the afternoon sun turned into thick drops that rained down on her. As she looked down at herself, she saw that the golden rain began covering her clothes, the bits of skin that were exposed. Her clothes started to grow heavy as they soaked up the golden liquid. Her skin felt taut under a thickening layer of golden paste. Just as she felt her lungs constrict, as she started coughing up gold, the light began to vanish again as she trees grew bigger again to form a maze so high Lucie couldn't estimate where it ended in the sky.

High up, the walls of the maze seemed to grow together, forming a ceiling out of swirling stripes of different-coloured branches and twigs. They started spinning so fast that Lucie felt quite dizzy. At least, she wasn't suffocating anymore. The spinning sped up faster and faster until all the colours collided in the point right above Lucie's head. They exploded in a split second, making sparks fly to all sides. The trails of the glowing sparks heading to the ground turned into columns of a dome that surrounded Lucie. The walls of the dome changed from a blur of colours into patterns, pictures and images. Lucie saw flowers blooming to her right as flames roared to her left. A huge wall of water piled up straight ahead, but as it crashed into the next column, it disappeared completely. People appeared in the shimmering walls, creatures of all kinds. Centaurs with blaring horns ran up the back wall as a unicorn pierced its horn through a column to Lucie's left. Shadowhunters slid across the ceiling as Angel wings flapped above her head. Shadows of Demons sneaked around underneath her feet, their fangs, wings and thorns easily visible. Straight ahead, a figure appeared holding a wand firmly in their hand. The figure shot a red spark towards the ceiling. Lucie looked up just in time to see cracks emerge in the dome. The cracks spread out until she could hear the rumbling above.

Quickly, she crouched down and covered her head with her arms as the dome collapsed and pieces of rubble started crashing down. Lucie waited for the impact that never came.

After a few long-stretched seconds, she risked looking up from under her arms. Her face was inches away from huge pieces of the dome, suspended in mid-air. Even though the dome had appeared to be made out of no solid substance just moments ago, the rubble looked as solid it could be as it started morphing back into the shape of tree trunks and branches.

"Oops, that was a close catch." Fabrizio was standing several yards away. His hands were outstretched towards the free-floating ceiling of rubble, green mist swirling between the pieces. "It's getting quite heavy. Would you mind helping me a bit out?"

Lucie flinched as a trunk slipped down dangerously close to her face.

"How?" she asked. "I don't know a spell that would help in this situation!"

"You don't need a spell!" Fabrizio called out.

"What?" she could barely hear him. He seemed to be vanishing more and more into the distance.

"You don't need a spell!" This time louder.

Lucie was still gripping her wand. She remembered what had happened in the Seelie Court. She hadn't used a spell then, either. It had just been golden light that had erupted from her wand and had seemed to do exactly what she needed it to.

Her wand hummed softly in her hand. Remembering the feeling, the glow of the light, how adrenaline had rushed through her veins, how a comforting warmth had spread through her limbs. Remembering, Lucie pointed her wand above her with all the force she could bring forth and imagined a sheet of golden light creating an invisible barrier between her and the tree parts. She imagined how this sheet would reverse gravity and push the rubble in the opposite direction away from her.

In an instant, branches and trunks were sent flying towards the sky. High up, they changed their course, hurtling back towards the ground. Lucie made the golden sheet wrap around her, letting tree parts bouncing off in every direction. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the protective shield as it pulsed and throbbed around her. With closed eyes, she saw the golden light rushing through every fibre of her body until it consumed her completely. It seemed as if the light was flowing through the wand into her and from her to the wand as well, creating a full circle. She rejoiced in the feeling, as if her body was welcoming home a missing piece.

As she opened her eyes again, she saw that the forest had returned to its original state. All the trees were back in their place, not a single colour other than green left on their branches.

Fabrizio was standing directly next to her. "Looks like I missed one." He pointed to a miniature tree to their left that was merely a foot tall. "Would you like to give it go?"

Lucie nodded and let the golden shield dissolve. She aimed her wand at the tree, willing it to grow as tall as the rest of its kind. The tree needed some convincing, but it soon followed her wishes and Lucie finished by leaving the bottom branch golden in colour.

"How did that feel, eh?"

"Amazing," Lucie panted. She was quite out of breath.

"That's magic for you, no?"

"Er, yes ..." She was feeling a bit lightheaded. Her limbs were growing heavier by the second. "Now, excuse me, I have to go lie down for a bit."

'

'

**A/N:**

**Hi everyone! Sorry for the late update, a few nightshifts got in the way...**

**Anyways, I have a beta reader now so huge thanks to ****SpaghettiWarlord for taking on my story! You've already improved it so much!**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think!**

'

"_Follow me to the edge of the world  
__Show you everything you've never seen before  
__Oh, we're dancing on the skyline  
__Heartbeats racing in the moonlight"_

_Follow Me by Tommee Profitt feat. Ruelle_


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

_Play With Fire_

'

"How come you're so good at this?" Delwyn complained to Lucie.

They were sitting in Transfiguration class the day after Lucie's adventure in the Forbidden Forest, trying to turn sticks into dragonflies. It was a challenging task and there were only a handful flying of them resembled wooden sticks with wings rather than actual insecst. Lucie was one of the few who had managed to get her dragonfly stick to fly, shimmering in beautiful green and silver.

"It's not as hard if you have a clear image in your mind what you want your stick to become," Lucie told Delwyn.

"Pff," he huffed unhappily."Oh, don't be so jealous." Lucie would be lying if she said she wasn't enjoying this. "You're still better than me in every other class."

"Whatever," he shrugged off. "I just don't get why this is so easy for you."

"Maybe I can just imagine things more easily," Lucie said with more than a bit of glee. Oh, she was enjoying this far too much. She was beating Wyn at something! Even if it was just Transfiguration.

'

Classes passed by, and Delwyn soon forgot all about his grudge as they arrived in the Great Hall that evening. It was decorated with hundreds of orange pumpkins, all glowing with candle light. Black bats flew over their heads and played between all the floating candles.

They had a grand time, stuffing their mouths with pumpkin pie and pumpkin juice and pumpkin... so on. Seraphina dared Lucie and Delwyn to catch one of the speeding bats. They failed miserably, but were laughing too much to care.

Just as Lucie and Seraphina were climbing down the stairs to the dungeons, Delwyn, who had gone back upstairs to retrieve something from the library, came rushing towards them.

"You have to see this!" he exclaimed as he grabbed both of them by the hands and steered them upstairs towards a mass of students gathering in the hallway.

"What's going on here?" Seraphina asked as she looked around.

Lucie followed the gaze of the fifty or so students that were staring at the wall hidden from her view. Together with Delwyn and Seraphina, she pushed through so she could finally see what was the big deal.

The three were rooted to the spot like all the other students when they took in the scene before them.

Mrs Norris was hanging from the wall, and she wasn't moving.

"Is she dead?" Lucie whispered to Delwyn.

He didn't move his eyes from the cat as he replied, "I'm not sure."

There was water splashed all over the floor, and, next to her on the wall, a message was written in blood red letters. "_The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir, beware."_

"What's that supposed to mean?" Seraphina asked in a hushed tone.

"No idea," Lucie said. "But it can't be something good."

'

As they were all shooed back to their dorms, wild theories spread among the Slytherins - Draco Malfoy being the loudest about his theories in particular

"You know, my father told me about the Chamber of Secrets before. Salazar Slytherin himself created it. It's supposed to be the home of a monster that specifically kills mudbloods. Only the heir of Slytherin himself can control said monster."

"A _monster_?" Seraphina asked. "That's ridiculous! How can there be a monster in the castle with no one ever noticing?"

"That's Salazar's fine work," Draco said. "I can prove it's true. The Chamber has been opened before, fifty years ago, I think. A mudblood was killed, then. Now, Slytherin's heir has returned most likely to finish his work - ridding the school of all those who aren't born of Wizard families."

"But why?" It was Lucie's turn to sound bewildered. "Why would somebody want to kill all the Muggle-borns?"

"When Hogwarts was created, Salazar disagreed with the other founders about whether or not they should accept Muggle-borns," Delwyn explained. "He thought blood purity was of the highest importance and Wizards from Muggle families weren't worthy of learning magic."

"Again. Why?"

"Nobody knows exactly why. It's not like he gave an interview about it," he joked. "Well, it was the time of Witch hunts and burnings of Wizards and Witches. I believe he was maybe scared for the safety of the Wizarding people if they let Muggle-borns freely into the school." This didn't evoke nice memories in Lucie's head.

They had arrived back in the common room. Green flames were flickering in the fireplaces, casting an eerie light through the spacious room.

"That makes sense..." Lucie admitted. "For a thousand years ago. But today? I hardly think Muggle-borns pose a threat to the secrecy of the Wizarding world nowadays."

"Whatever you say," Draco sneered, lounging back against a dark leather couch. "You just sympathize with Muggles because you grew up amongst them... Hasn't more than a year at Hogwarts been enough to teach you the Wizarding ways?"

Lucie was about to open her mouth when Delwyn added: "What Lucie says is very true. Muggles even find magic exciting nowadays. They pay a lot of money to get tricked by false Wizards and Witches. I doubt they would mind a real one."

"And you would know all about it, halfblood!" Draco accused him, rising to his feet.

"Shut it!" Seraphina raised her voice, her eyes flashing as she stepped in front of Draco. "That's quite enough! We don't need to be attacking each other."

"Hmpf." Draco just smirked, turned on his heel and vanishing into the boys' dorm.

"He's far too much a brat for my liking," Seraphina grumbled.

"Do you think he's Slytherin's heir?" Lucie asked, moving up beside her friend.

"I doubt it," Delwyn said. "Have you heard how he talks about the heir? He can't be meaning himself."

"Plus, he's not as cunning as he thinks he is," Seraphina added grimly. "I think he'd just really like to give the heir a pat on the back - if we ever find out who it is."

"If there will ever be another victim than Filch's ugly cat..." Lucie said.

"Let's hope not."

"Well, it wouldn't be affecting us, would it?" Delwyn asked carefully.

"No," Seraphina said. "But it'd still mean innocent lives lost."

* * *

"Where have you been all weekend?" Delwyn asked Lucie as she entered the common room on Sunday evening.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you were nowhere to be found when mayhem broke loose!"

"Oh, I was just outside by the lake for the most of the weekend." Lucie lied.

"You're quite a loner, you know," Seraphina said, eyeing her. Both her and Delwyn were slouched on the couch nearest to the windows looking out into the Black Lake. "Like a lone werewolf."

"Very funny," Lucie said, brushing her off. "Now what mayhem are you talking about?"

"Well, first of all, you missed the Quidditch game of a lifetime-"

"Nobody cares about the game!" Delwyn interrupted.

"_Everybody_ cares about the game!" Seraphina insisted.

Lucie rolled her eyes. "_What_ about the game?"

Seraphina turned to her. "Slytherin lost, thanks to that ridiculous Seeker!" She nodded her head towards Draco who was just making his way of the common room as quickly as he could. "Anyways, during the match, Gryffindor's seeker, you know the _famous_ Harry Potter, was chased by a rogue bludger that ended up breaking his arm!"

"How did that happen?"

"No idea-"

"_Anyways_," Delwyn continued, straightening up. "What is definitely more interesting than a Quidditch game is there was another attack!"

"Attack?" Lucie asked.

"Yes, attack! The Heir of Slytherin attacked a second victim. This time a student!" Delwyn said, finally getting to his point.

"A student?" Now Lucie was shocked. "That's not interesting, Wyn. That's terrible! Who is it?"

"A Gryffindor first year."

"And is he ... ?"

"Dead?" Seraphina asked.

"No, just petrified," assured Delwyn with an uncertain smile.

Lucie let out a sigh of relief. "So, what now? Do the teachers have any idea who might be the Heir? And how to, uh, _unpetrify _the victims?"

Both Delwyn and Seraphina shook their heads grimly.

'

The following weeks brought answers to at least one of the questions. Dumbledore had announced Professor Sprout was nurturing her Mandrakes so they could be used for a draught to revive the Heir's victims once fully grown. No one could give a clear answer for what was attacking the students and who the heir was.

They were soon distracted, however, by the news of a Duelling Club going around. While Lucie strongly doubted you could duel the monster of Slytherin, she could hardly argue with Seraphina that duelling skills might turn out useful in the future. So she agreed to go along with her and Delwyn.

That evening, quite a mass of students gathered in the Great Hall. The House tables had vanished and made room for a long stage all across the middle of the room. Lucie just began to wonder who would be teaching the Club when Lockhart strode in - accompanied by Snape, oddly enough. Delwyn and Seraphina joined her in groaning simultaneously. Now, this would certainly be a waste of time.

Lucie barely paid any attention to what Lockhart was going on about as he flourished his wand wildly. Lucie observed Snape's mouth going from a straight line to curling downwards so much she would've been scared for her DADA teacher - if she cared about his well-being to that extent. After a while, there was word of a demonstration. _Finally,_ something interesting was going to happen.

Lockhart and Snape bowed to each other - at least that was what it was supposed to be, Snape nodded more than anything and Lockhart looked like he was flapping his robes like bat wings. Lucie was surprised he didn't fall over.

Then, they pointed their wands at each other like Lucie would hold a Seraph blade. Every person in the room had their full attention on the two teachers,keen to see what would happen next.

Just as Lockhart started twirling his wand in overdramatic patterns, Snape raised his wand, bellowing "_Expelliarmus!_"

Lockhart was flung backwards, his wand flying out of his hand. Snape's mouth was now curling slightly upwards as Lucie craned her neck to get a good view of her collapsed professor.

"Do you think he's alright?" Delwyn asked, standing on his tiptoes, being even smaller than Lucie.

"What? D'you want to practise your healer skills on that one?" Seraphina scoffed.

"No!"

"Then why do you care?"

In the meantime, Lockhart had managed to get back on his feet, fetching his wand from a student down below.

"Great demonstration, Professor!" His smile didn't falter. "That was a Disarming Charm. Good idea to show that one as in introduction to the students, very good idea. However, very foreseeable. I just thought the effect would be better if you all saw what the impact of this charm was."

Snape was back to curling downwards.

"Now," Lockhart wasn't the least irritated. "Let's practise that, shall we? Professor, if you would assist me in pairing this lot up."

Just as Lucie and Delwyn had decided to work together, Lucie heard her name being called across the crowd. Professor Snape was motioning her to come across to the other side of the hall. She shot Delwyn an apologetic look as she made her way over to Snape.

"I suggested mixing it up a little," Lockhart said, dancing through the mass of students. "Get a little inter-House-duelling."

Lucie more than obviously rolled her eyes.

Snape was smirking as he said, "Potter, you and Radcliffe."

Lucie shrugged and turned to the Gryffindor second year. This was going to be easy, no matter the opponent. She knew the spell. She had practised it well enough with Snape.

Harry followed Lucie's movements until they were facing each other, wands pointed directly at each other.

"Now, remember. We're only going to disarm each other. On the count of three," Lockhart shouted. "One, two, three!"

Lucie was quick to send a jet of red light in Harry's direction. He immediately stumbled backwards as his wand flew out of his hand and in a high arch across the room. Lucie looked around just in time to see Harry's wand spiralling downwards and hitting the back of Draco Malfoy's head. She could barely stifle a laugh when she saw Draco's astounded face, Harry's following her example.

Lucie still couldn't put on a straight face when Draco marched over to them through the chaos surrounding them. Spells were flying in every direction, and some people were already lying on the ground. It was chaos.

"You think that's funny, Potter? And you, Radcliffe?"

"Y-yes," Lucie said between laughs.

"I'll show you funny." Draco pointed his wand at her legs and muttered a spell. Lucie suddenly lost all control over her limbs as she was sent hopping from one foot to the other, her legs flailing in complicated patterns across the floor.

Draco's roaring laughter soon died down when Harry, who had regained his wand, sent a tickling charm his way. While Draco was crawling on the floor protesting angrily, Snape swooped in and quickly uncharmed Lucie's legs before proceeding with Draco.

"I said, disarm only!" Lockhart shrieked somewhere in the crowd.

That wasn't stopping the three. As soon as Draco was back on his feet, Lucie made him tumble backwards by a weak Stunning Spell - she was still working on it. Harry tried his luck again with _Expelliarmus_. Draco's wand didn't budge an inch, but he earned another blow to the stomach that made him gasp for air. Just as he sent a Hex their way, Snape slid between the duelling three and stopped the spell.

"That's quite enough, I think. We want Malfoy here to still be able to walk, don't we?" he smirked.

Silence was slowly settling across the hall. It all looked like a strange battle scene with mist rising from the crowd, students holding other students upright. Only a handful stood there, wands proud in their hands. Most of them were out of breath and ashen-faced.

Lockhart didn't look any less exhausted as he had stopped screaming over the masses. His hair was ruffled, his hat was dangling off to one side, and he seemed to have little spots of soot on his face and robes.

"Well," he sighed. "Maybe we should start a bit smaller. How about a demonstration up on the stage by two of your _talented_ lot." He gazed around the room. "How about you two? Weasley and Finnigan?"

"I don't think that's a good choice," Snape interrupted. "Weasley is more likely to do more damage with that broken wand of his than intended. How about Radcliffe and Potter over here?"

Lucie caught the eyes of Seraphina and Delwyn who were giving her thumbs up as she climbed up onto the stage. She took a deep breath. She knew she could do this - even in front of half the school. This was her time to show what was inside her. She was a Shadowhunter, after all. A Redcliff. And a fierce Witch, now, too.

Snape came up beside her and bent down say to her: "We both know you've mastered the Disarming Charm. But how about you show this little Gryffindor what power lies within a Slytherin." He was grinning.

Harry across from her looked more than terrified as Lockhart was fumbling around with his wand - and dropping it - while he was showing him what spell to use.

"I hear you have quite the talent with Transfiguration. That will help with this one. It all lies with the imagination," Snape continued. He bent down even lower to whisper in her ear the spell she could use. Lucie started grinning as well. This was going to be good.

Following Lockhart's calls, Lucie and Harry bowed to each other and then went into duelling stance. On the count of three, Lucie let the spell loose, turning object into a live poison-green snake onto the ground in front of Harry. Harry stood rooted to the spot as the snake started hissing in his direction.

"Don't you worry, I'll take care of it!" Lockhart swooped in and flicked his wand towards the snake. Instead of disappearing, it was sent spiralling high up into the enchanted ceiling and crashed back down onto the ground, unharmed. There, it drew itself up and slithered towards the nearest student, a Hufflepuff in her year, more aggressively now.

Just as Lucie asked herself if she could use her golden light magic to control the snake, Harry stepped forward and started, himself, hissing at the snake. Lucie, just as all the other people in the room, watched open mouthed as the snake looked between Harry and the Hufflepuff boy, hissing more and more. After a few drawn out seconds, Snape stepped forward and waved his wand at the snake, making it disappear in a puff of black smoke.

'

The room was quickly cleared out, though the students' gossip mill was already turning. Lucie, Delwyn and Seraphina, too, were debating eagerly what had just happened.

"A Parselmouth? What's that supposed to be?" Lucie asked after Delwyn had brought up the term, the trio walking back in the direction of their common room.

"Somebody who can speak Parseltongue," he said matter-of-factly.

"And what's _that_ supposed to be?"

"That's the language of serpents."

"So you're telling me that Harry Potter can talk to _snakes_?"

"Yes," said Delwyn, scowling at a pair of third-year Hufflepuffs who'd bumped into him.

"Is that common in the Wizarding World? Being able to talk to animals?" asked Lucie curiously, rounding a corner.

"Not really," Seraphina said as she furrowed her brow. "It is a very rare gift. Parseltongue especially is associated to Dark Wizards. Salazar Slytherin himself is rumoured to have been a Parselmouth."

"So then how come Harry Potter has this gift?" Lucie asked.

"No idea."

"Well, the ability to speak Parseltongue is known to be hereditary, so..." piped Delwyn, heading down a flight of stairs to the dungeon.

"You mean he's inherited it from some Dark Wizard?" Lucie murmured the password as the three reached the entry to the common room, the stone wall sliding open the reveal the green-themed room where numerous other Slytherins were sitting around.

"I'm guessing not just any Dark Wizard," Delwyn said darkly, stepping into the room.

Lucie gasped. "Harry Potter? The one who defeated You-Know-Who? The Heir of Slytherin? You've got to be kidding me!"

"There's no other suspect, is there?" Seraphina said in a hushed voice as a couple of the other children looked up at their entry. "But still, you're right. It doesn't fit. There has to be another explanation."

Moving through their common room. Lucie headed straight for her dorm, because she was exhausted. All she wanted to do was slip into her pyjamas and get a goodnight's sleep.

All thoughts of lying down disappeared when she looked under her bed and saw that the locks of her suitcase were open. They had been opened by someone other than herself- she certainly hadn't. Lucie bent down and pulled the case out from underneath with shaking hands.

The locks didn't look damaged, so they must've been opened by magic. But Lucie had sealed them with runes, so this had to have been powerful magic. Lucie didn't know what to think as she opened the suitcase. She hadn't left anything Nephilim related in it; she wasn't stupid. But still, it was supposed to remain closed, supposed to be magic-proof.

Lucie made a quick scan of all the items in the suitcase. Nothing was missing, but something had been added. A piece of parchment was stuck between the folds of her favourite jumper. With trembling fingers, she pulled it out and read what was written in a scrawly handwriting.

In a hurry, Lucie rushed out of the room. Hopefully, Delwyn and Seraphina were still up.

Sure enough, Delwyn was sitting by one of the green fires, trying to read in the awful lighting. He was going to ruin his eyes sooner or later. Now, she just had to collect Seraphina from her dorm.

When she had both their attention and she could be sure that no one was eavesdropping on them, she showed them the piece of parchment.

Delwyn read aloud in a hushed voice: "_Enemies of the Heir, beware. Your show today might have been impressive - for a second year. But no one can defeat the Heir of Slytherin. Not even the power of the Heiress. Choose your next steps carefully._"

"And this was left among your things?" Seraphina asked, her brow scrunched together in concern.

Lucie nodded slowly.

"What do you think it means?"

"It means," Delwyn said. "That someone has it out for you."

'

'

**A/N:**

**Hope you enjoyed the next chapter! Let me know what you think!**

**Again, huge thanks to my beta reader SpaghettiWarlord!**

'

"_Insane, inside the danger gets me high  
__Can't help myself got secrets I can't tell [...]  
__I've always liked to play with fire"_

_Play With Fire by Sam Tinnesz_


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

_Far From Home_

'

Lucie woke up with a bad feeling in her stomach. It was so bad that she didn't have any desire to eat anything at breakfast, and she normally ate three times the amount of what Delwyn had.

Seraphina, concerned, tried to make Lucie eat some toast. "Come on. You have to eat something."

Lucie only shook her head glumly.

"You know, I thought about it more," Delwyn said, trying to lighten the mood. "And I'm pretty convinced that it's just some dumb joke."

"_Really_?" Lucie asked. "You think someone would go to such lengths as to hide a note in a locked suitcase just for a dumb joke?"

Delwyn didn't reply, looking down at his plate.

'

It didn't get better over the course of the day. Potions was cancelled because some idiot in the lesson before them had let his cauldron explode, so now the whole class was scrubbing Sticking Draft off the walls of the classroom. Lucie had to spend two whole hours in the common room with nothing to do other than to stare into the distance, depressing thoughts crossing her mind.

Seraphina and Delwyn tried to distract her various times, offering to play rounds of Exploding Snap with her, but Lucie wasn't in the mood.

After an hour of jiggling with her leg, she decided to find a proper distraction. She couldn't go for a run, because the blizzard was preventing anyone from going outside. So she opted for going to her training room. She felt the need to hit something really hard. The punchbag in her training room was the best option and would attract the least attention.

Just as she was climbing the first staircase upwards, she heard a voice. She couldn't understand what it was saying, but Lucie felt an odd sensation in her stomach as if her gut was pulling her where she needed to go. A voice appeared in her head, urging her on. She gave in and followed the sensation up more stairs and around corners, the voice growing louder and louder until Lucie clamped her hands over her ears in an effort to silence it down. Her hands didn't help and the noise started hurting so much that she had to lean against the nearest wall and catch her breath to avoid collapsing onto the floor. All of a sudden, the voice fell silent. As Lucie regained control over her legs again, she stumbled around another corner and stopped dead in her tracks.

Nearly Headless Nick was floating in the middle of the corridor. His mouth was wide open in a silent scream. And he, Lucie realised, _wasn't_ floating. He wasn't moving at all. Nick was suspended in mid-air, petrified. Several feet behind him, a Hufflepuff student, the one who had nearly been attacked by the snake last night, was lying on the ground - also petrified. And behind _him_, none other than Harry Potter was kneeling on the ground. Just noticing her arrival, he looked at Lucie, his eyes wide with shock.

"Please, I - I didn't do this," he stammered. "We have to get help. I-"

Lucie's head was spinning. She had to get out of here. This was the work of the Heir. And he could come back. It couldn't be Harry - no one was that good at acting. He looked just as shocked as she was.

Suddenly, Peeves came crashing out of the wall. Harry whipped his head in his direction. This was her opportunity. While he was distracted by the poltergeist, she could disappear. She didn't have her stele with her, but maybe her wand could help? It had an adamas core, after all. Lucie didn't have time to think twice. She quickly pulled out her wand from her robes and imagined the adamas sparking to life between her fingers. Her wand got warm in her hands and she directed it towards her forearm, drawing the lines of _Unseen_ onto her skin.

To her surprise, it actually worked. When Harry turned back around to ask for help from her, he stopped open-mouthed. She was nowhere to be seen.

Peeves started making so much noise that the whole school could know what was going on. Soon, the entire corridor was crowded with spectators. Lucie pressed herself to the wall. Luckily for her, all the students were too preoccupied with what was lying on the ground in front of them for them to take a second look at the nothingness they were constantly bumping into.

It wasn't until Professor McGonagall showed up and silenced them down with a loud bang, that they were sent back into their classes. After McGonagall had managed the transport of the two victims to the hospital wing, she turned to Harry and motioned him to follow her.

Out of curiosity, Lucie followed them. She had to make sure that Harry wasn't involved in these attacks.

McGonagall led them around the corner until they came to a halt in front of a huge stone gargoyle. The gargoyle had an extremely large bulging nose and Lucie noticed with unease that the eyes seemed to follow them wherever they went, even her.

"Sherbet lemon," McGonagall said. At that, the gargoyle sprang to life and revealed a hidden staircase. Lucie quickly jumped on it behind the two, doing her best not to make a sound while doing so. The staircase spiralled upwards, taking them higher and higher until they came to a huge oak door.

Professor McGonagall led them inside and then left them there. They had to wait quite a while alone. Lucie wondered if she could just sneak out again, but discarded the idea in favor of curiosity. She opted for looking around a little. The office was a beautiful circular room filled to the brim with all sorts of silver clicking instruments and old golden-lettered books. The walls were covered with paintings of silver-haired Wizards and Witches, all former headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts. This had to be Dumbledore's office.

While Harry was playing around with the Sorting Hat, Lucie spotted a peculiar creature. It was a bird, but not a very splendid one. It was ashen in colour, it's feathers half-plucked. The bird was hanging his head as it was making faint gagging noises. Lucie recognised it as a phoenix, one that was well at the end of one of its life cycles. She had heard about phoenixes in one of her Magical Creatures lessons a few years back at the Institute. Ever since, she'd always wanted to see one in person. Of course, she had hoped that it would then be at its most beautiful stage with magnificent red and golden feathers.

As she crept closer, the phoenix lifted its head and fixed her in the eye. The bird could see her as it was one of the sighted Magical Creatures. Luckily, it couldn't reveal her presence to Harry. Instead, it welcomed Lucie's approaching hand that gently caressed its rough skin. The phoenix even gently nibbled at her thumb.

Lucie tore her eyes away from the bird to see Harry approach it as well. Just as he got close, it let his head hang even lower and then suddenly burst into flames. Lucie backed away as heat struck her hand. She just so avoided making a hissing noise. Her hand was slightly burned, but it was nothing an _Iratze_ couldn't take care of.

Just then, Professor Dumbledore came into the office. She listened as Harry tried to convince Dumbledore that it wasn't him who had set the bird on fire. Angels, this was definitely not his day.

* * *

Lucie hadn't been successful at retrieving new information as to who was behind the attacks. She had only found out that it definitely wasn't Harry Potter. Still, she needed to talk with Seraphina and Delwyn.

"What's up?" Sera asked when Lucie came into the common room.

Lucie ushered them into a corner. "There's been another attack," she told them in a hushed voice. The other students who weren't in the crowd would find out soon enough.

"What?!" Delwyn exclaimed, not so hushed.

Seraphina gave him a stern look to quiet down. "Who is it?" she asked.

"A Hufflepuff boy from our year. I think his name is John or something."

"Justin," Delwyn corrected.

"Whatever," Lucie continued. "It was him and Nearly Headless Nick."

"A ghost?" Seraphina said.

Lucie hesitated. Should she tell them? "That isn't all," she finally said.

"What else?" Delwyn asked.

She thought hard. How could she best explain this? "Well, before the attack, I, er, heard something."

"What do you mean, you heard something?" Seraphina asked in confusion.

"I heard a voice, I think. I couldn't understand what it was saying, however. But it got louder and louder and led me to the exact corridor where Justin and the ghost were lying."

"What?" Delwyn burst out again.

"Will you keep quiet!" Seraphina hissed before turning back to Lucie. "You mean this voice was taking you directly to the place of the attack? Like... it was luring you there?"

Lucie nodded.

Seraphina sighed heavily. "Oh well, that demolishes our stupid prank theory once and for all."

"What do I do now?" Lucie asked desperately. This was going a bit too much over her head. She could have been attacked today. She could have been _killed_ today.

"For starters, don't follow that voice next time," Seraphina said.

Lucie rolled her eyes. "That's easy for you to say. It was literally pulling me!"

"Should you tell a teacher, maybe?" Delwyn proposed.

Both Lucie and Sera shook their heads. "They won't be able to tell us anything we don't already know," Seraphina said. "They'd just ask uncomfortable questions."

"Then," Delwyn said. "We have to find out who's behind this. Any ideas?"

Seraphina shook her head.

"I can just rule out Harry Potter," Lucie said. "He definitely _isn't_ the Heir of Slytherin. I already checked up on that."

"So who else could it be?" Seraphina asked.

"It has to be someone who is strongly against Muggle-borns ... and someone who doesn't like Lucie ... " Delwyn had his thinking-face back on. "Maybe Draco Malfoy?"

Seraphina snorted. "You already know what I think of that."

"Maybe there's more to him than what we've seen so far?"

Lucie shrugged. "We don't have any other leads at the moment, so what other options do we have right now?"

"Hm," Seraphina said, tapping her index finger on her chin. "Oh well, I guess we have to start somewhere. And Malfoy definitely can't stand you. You had that argument about Slytherin with him, remember? Maybe he thinks you're on the side of the Muggle-borns?"

'

Over the remaining weeks before the Christmas holidays, the three of them watched Draco Malfoy carefully. He wasn't hard to follow as he spent most of his time with them in class, in the Great Hall and in the Slytherin common room. Wherever he was, he was easily found due to his loud boisterous voice that rang through every conversation. And he was never doing anything remotely suspicious.

So when the holidays came, they weren't any bit further in their investigation. As for the Heir, he hadn't made himself noticeable for the remainder of the school weeks. There had been no further petrified victims, no further threatening letters to Lucie.

The night before she would take the train back to London, she spent time with Fabrizio in the Forbidden Forest. He was jumping ahead from branch to branch, and it was Lucie's job to melt the snow on those branches before he landed on them.

"Fabrizio?"

"Yes, tesorino?" He kept on jumping.

"This golden-light-magic I'm using, it's different than the one we are taught at Hogwarts with spells and all, right? To me, it feels different."

"Oh, it _is_ very different. What you are practising is one of the most ancient kinds of magic. It is not bound to spells, just to your wand. It is instinctive magic, ancient magic. For it, you need the purest magical material as the core of your wand. In your case, adamas. It helps you channel the very magic that is in your blood."

"Aha." Lucie had to pick up her pace if she didn't want Fabrizio to slip.

He didn't look over his shoulder as he shouted back: "You didn't understand that, no?"

"Not really."

"But you felt it, yes?"

Lucie nodded before realising that he wouldn't be able to see that motion. "Er, yeah, I did. But what do you mean, it uses the very magic that is in my blood. Is that why it gets so tiring?"

"Yes and no. It gets exhausting because you have to invest part of your soul for it to work."

"What? You mean I've been losing parts of my soul while doing this?"

She missed the next branch and Fabrizio slipped in the snow. He caught himself with his curling tail and then hopped down from twig to twig until he was on the ground again. There, he marched up to Lucie who had stopped following him through the maze of trees.

"No, that's not what I meant, tesorino. I meant that it takes a lot of concentration and will power to conjure what you call your golden-light-magic."

"Is there a proper name for it?"

"I believe that some call it by the name Magicae."

"Magicae..." Lucie let the word roll over her tongue.

They walked side by side down a narrow path between the giant roots of the trees.

"Can other Wizards or Witches do this Magicae as well?"

"There are other, wandless, ways to channel ancient magic. But that requires a much larger sacrifice and is rarely done deliberately. The kind you do, there have only been few in the history of our world capable of that. You need the right wand for it, remember?"

"So the only reason I can do it, is because of my special wand?"

"No, tesorino, you aren't listening properly." Fabrizio gave her a slap on her wand wrist. "It is the wand who chooses the Witch, _remember_?"

"Right." Lucie stared straight ahead. "Speaking of wandless magic. You don't need one to do magic, do you?"

He shook his head. "No."

"So what exactly is the difference between Warlocks like you and Witches like me?"

Fabrizio furrowed his brow before he explained: "You see, we Warlocks are descendants of Demons, whereas Wizarding people come from a line of Faeries. So our magic is very different most of all because of who we've inherited it from. Among Warlocks it also makes a difference who your Demon parent was, it determines how powerful you can get."

Lucie tried putting it all together. "So the Seelie Queen told the truth when she said that Wizards and Witches were her children?"

"Yes, indeed."

"Hm." It was her turn to furrow her brow. "But then, this thing in the Wizarding World about bloodlines ... is that just made up? If all the Wizards and Witches come from Faeries?"

Fabrizio nodded. "You could say so. The original Faerie line was washed out through the many pairings with Mundanes and other Downworlders and even Shadowhunters over the centuries. So the Muggle-borns of today are just Wizards or Witches of a line where the magic didn't manifest itself throughout many generations of Mundanes."

"So is this whole pureblood business is just straight up nonsense?"

Fabrizio giggled. "Yes, tesorino. But try and explain this to a pureblood Wizard!"

"Impossible," Lucie said. "Not without knowing about the Shadow World..."

"That's the problem, eh?"

"Fabrizio?" She stopped and turned to the tiny Warlock. "What do you know about the Heir of Slytherin? You were around when Salazar Slytherin was alive, weren't you?"

"I was, but I wasn't around Hogwarts at that time. I've only heard the same rumours you have about his Heir and the Chamber of Secrets." He frowned. "I see you're quite distracted this time we meet. Are you so concerned about it? I thought you'd have nothing to worry about, no?"

Lucie let out a heavy sigh. "Well, for some reason, the Heir of Slytherin has it out for me."

"Really?" Fabrizio asked in a high-pitched squeak. "Why is that?"

"No idea," she grumbled.

'

'

**A/N:**

**Again special thanks to my beta reader SpaghettiWarlord!**

"_I'm so far from home  
__So far from Home  
__Not where I belong"_

_Far From Home by Sam Tinnesz_


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

_When the Darkness Comes_

'

_Dear Lucie,  
__Your letter reached me! That little owl has more stamina than one would presume.  
__I'm well, thanks. Going on Hunts full-time can get really exhausting, but it's so exhilarating at the same time. We have a great team at the La Paz Institute. I can tell you this: It is such a great feeling to be able to work together successfully on a Hunt. We've learned early on to stick together. So whatever you do, Lucie, remember to have people at your back.  
__It's great to hear you're getting better and better at magic. Can't wait to face off against you! To answer your question: I have actually never heard of such a Downworld being, but I asked my friend Niu and she said they're called thestrals. She told me the glamour they use is a special kind: You can see them if you're sighted and concentrate very hard. Non-sighted people can also see them if they've witnessed death before, and comprehend it.  
__Anyways, you'd love Niu. She's a good friend and a real nerd when it comes to Downworlders of all kinds. Joshua would love her even more. Maybe she can come with me on a visit home sometime. Niu is from the Shanghai Institute originally. We're a real international team. When we go out in La Paz, no glamour on, we're the main attraction since almost all of the people here are of Native American or Spanish descent.  
__Hope to hear from you soon! Don't let that posh school get into your head!  
__Love, Abigail_

'

It was Mundane Christmas Day, and Lucie, Kayden, and Joshua were sitting in a lesson of Downworlder Defence. Though, it wasn't the official name of the subject if an actual Downworlder were to ask. It was like the Clave wasn't even _trying_ to trust Downworlders, Wizards and Witches even less for that matter. For Lucie, the lesson was more than uncomfortable.

"Now, do you remember what we've discussed so far?" Ms Penhallow asked the six Shadowhunters-in-training living at the London Institute. She was a small woman with muscles like a bear. Her almond-shaped eyes narrowed as she studied her students.

"Benjamin!"

"Huh?" Lucie's cousin looked up as he was called to attention.

"How is the best way to defeat a Vampire?"

He shrugged. "Not fight against him or her?"

Ms Penhallow's eyes got even narrower than Lucie had thought possible. "And if that option is out?"

"Spray them with holy water?"

Her voice dropped lower as she approached Ben. "What if you don't have holy water on hand?"

"...Run?"

Lucie was suddenly worried for her cousin's life.

Ms Penhallow came face to face with Ben, their noses mere inches apart. "Shadowhunters don't run," she spat out. "Plus, Vampires are faster than you. They'd have you in a second."

Ben swallowed hard. With his wide eyes, he reminded Lucie a bit of the petrified victims she'd seen at Hogwarts. As she tried to shake that thought away, Ms Penhallow moved on to _her_ next victim.

"Kayden!"

Lucie saw her cousin straighten himself immediately in his chair.

"Yes?"

"Can you help Benjamin out?" It wasn't meant to be a question.

"Erm," Kayden began. "Vampires are quick so... it doesn't do any good to move around much. So, er, fast movements with your weapon at hand and try to get the Vampire to back into something so they can't go anywhere. Um, watch out for the fangs and cut them as much as possible; the blood loss will wear them down eventually... Otherwise, you can try to find a source of fire to which they are extremely vulnerable or, of course, daylight..." His brow furrowed in deep concentration. "If you can manage to get close to them, snap their necks: it will render them unconscious for quite a while..." Kayden looked at Ms Penhallow carefully as she continued to study him.

"Good," she finally said.

Both Kayden and Lucie let out a sigh of relief. Lucie nudged him in the rib cage. He was doing well.

"Lucie!"

Oh by the Angels! It was her turn.

"What do you do if a Warlock picks a fight with you?"

_Attack them with my own magic._ "Er, do my best to shield the incoming blasts of magic with my seraph blades?"

"And? How can you attack?"

"Er..." Lucie tried to think of another solution than _magic_, but nothing came to mind. "Well…"

"Lucie, come forward!"

She stood up immediately and walked onto the training mat to face her teacher. In the audience, Kayden was trying to give her reassuring looks.

"Pretend I'm a Warlock." Ms Penhallow threw away the usual bō staff she fought and taught with and instead held out her hands in front of her with a weird twirling movement. "We're several feet apart, right now? What happens?"

"Well," Lucie thought hard. "You as a Warlock can aim your magic quite well, even from a distance. But you can also defend yourself easily form several feet away... So any arrows I shoot or, er, daggers I throw won't hit you. You can easily block them with magic."

"Yes, correct. So what do you do?"

She was thinking on her feet. What would she do, instinctively? _Pull out her wand._ No! Not the Witch way! The Shadowhunter way!

"Er, the same as with a Vampire. Try to get as close as possible, I guess?"

"You guess?" She was staring her down with eagle eyes.

"No, I'm convinced? I, er, yes ... I'd get as close as possible and then strike with one quick motion."

Silence stretched between the two. Then, Ms Penhallow got out of her Warlock-fighting stance.

"Alright. Next!"

Lucie didn't need to hear anything else. She nearly ran back to her chair and slouched down next to Kayden.

"Good job," he whispered to her.

She just rolled her eyes at him. _Surviving_ was a feat in this class.

"Joshua!"

"Yes?" Now it went to the youngest of them to persevere through Ms Penhallow's scrutinising gaze. Hell, even Abigail shrank five inches when she had had to attend these classes.

"What is the best strategy against a Witch or Wizard?"

Lucie froze in her seat. The room had just chilled down several degrees. Even the last student in the room had stopped whispering to their friends. Each and every one of them was listening tensely to what Joshua was about to say.

"Er, the best strategy against a Witch or Wizard?" He was making a point out of not looking at Lucie. "Well, they are non-sighted. So just apply a glamour rune?"

"Correction. _Most_ of them are non-sighted. Some are. What do you do against those?" Ms Penhallow was leaning on her retrieved bō staff, her eyes fixed intensely on Joshua.

"Well, I think the ... the same what was just said about facing a Warlock."

"Yes and no. There are some crucial differences that can help you defeat a Wizard!"

"Er ... Wizards have to rely on their wands?"

Ms Penhallow was giving the slightest imitation of a nod.

"Yes. Wizards need their wands. Without them, they cannot perform magic," he continued.

"So what do you do?"

"Disarm them ... using the same technique as with Warlocks." Joshua smiled. Lucie hoped he would be off the radar soon enough. Ms Penhallow, however, wasn't finished.

"How do you best kill a Wizard?"

Lucie's eyes grew wide. She felt Kayden's hand on her arm. _Don't do anything stupid_.

She slowly turned to him.

"I ... I, er, what?" Joshua didn't know what to say. Lucie was sure she could cut the tension in the room with a knife.

Ms Penhallow leaned forward on her bō staff. "What is the best way to _kill_ a Wizard?"

"Kill?" Joshua asked. "Wizards nowadays are usually a peaceful kind ... there is rarely a situation where a Shadowhunter needs to kill a Wizard."

"Oh really?" Her voice dropped dangerously low. "Then why are we living in secret from the Wizarding people?"

"I, I don't ..." Joshua stammered.

"You don't know?" Lucie could barely see her irises, they had turned into such slits. "It's because there are still dark Wizards out there posing a threat to us! And those dark Wizards won't hesitate to kill you! So tell me. How. Do you. Kill. A Wizard?"

"I-" he looked straight at Lucie. She didn't know what he was expecting of her. There was a pleading look in his eyes. But she couldn't give him the answer.

When he had steadied his voice, he said: "Wizards are made out of flesh and bones. Once you avoid their magic attacks or disarm them all together, you can ... kill them the same way you would kill a Mundane: stabbing vital organs, slicing a main artery or breaking the neck."

The room was dead silent. Every single pair of eyes was set on Lucie, except for Joshua's who was desperately staring at the ceiling.

"Alright," Ms Penhallow's voice cut through the silence. "Now, I hope you've understood when dealing with Downworlders, you have to make fast and exact movements. I want you to practise in pairs. Go on."

There was a scraping of chairs on the floor as most of the students got to their feet to find their place on the training mat. Kayden had to pull Lucie up and drag her along. Her limbs weren't coordinating with her brain and she nearly fell over as they stepped onto the mat. If it hadn't been for Kayden, she'd have been lying on the ground, unable to get back up.

"Remember." Lucie could barely hear her teacher's voice over the fog in her head. "Swift movements. Don't make them predictable. Know exactly where you want the blow to land."

Lucie could only see how Kayden would reach back and cut her throat in one swift motion.

* * *

Aunt Jodie was furious when she heard about the lesson with Ms Penhallow. Joshua had told her - who else would have?

She was also furious when she heard about what was happening at Hogwarts with the monster of Slytherin. Joshua had told her _that_, too. Luckily, Lucie hadn't made the threatening letters public knowledge. Aunt Jodie would have freaked out even more.

Long story short, Lucie now possessed the official permit to carry a dagger around with her, at all times at Hogwarts. This time, the odds were in her favour, since the Nephilim didn't trust magic to defeat a people-petrifying monster - they put their trust more in runes and steel. So now, she was allowed to have the reassuring feel of a metal blade in her boot at all times. This Heir of Slytherin better watched out.

Lucie dreaded the remaining days of the holidays. It was almost the reverse of last year. She was more looking forward to Hogwarts again then staying at the Institute. At Hogwarts, she had friends, she had tutors challenging her. At Hogwarts, she wasn't a freak. Sure, at the Institute, she had her whole family. But sure enough, one after the other, they would distance themselves from her, because she was different from them. Nothing could ever change that. It had already begun with Joshua: after the incident during training, he did his best to avoid talking directly to her, to avoid being alone in a room with her. Because he realised what she really was - a Downworlder like the rest of them.

At least for now, Kayden was doing his best to reverse that effect. He was constantly around her. Only in the night, when Lucie was lying in her bed, did she have the opportunity to be alone with her sinister thoughts. And even then, Kayden sometimes joined her and stayed with her until the first rays of sunlight started peeking through the curtains.

One morning, Lucie was unusually unpreoccupied enough to notice Kayden had been strangely quiet during the last few days.

Since he wasn't doing what she called snorkelling - not snoring - anymore, he was clearly awake. So Lucie nudged him in the side, asking, "Everything alright over there?"

"You're one to talk," Kayden grumbled. He remained on the side, his back still facing to Lucie.

"Come on, tell me. What's wrong? Normally, you'd already be blabbing about all sorts of things by now." She sighed. This wasn't like him at all. He wasn't the pondering one in their relationship, that was _he_r job.

She kept poking him in the back until he turned over with a big groan.

"What?" His face was all scrunched up from sleeping on one side.

"Come on, spit it out," Lucie urged. This was making her more and more suspicious by the minute.

"I've been meaning to ask you something," he started begrudgingly.

"Really? What?"

"Will you let me get to that part?"

Lucie tried to ignore the look of annoyance on his face. "Sure, go on."

"Well, since we're both going to go on our first Hunt soon-"

"Hopefully!"

Kayden stared her down. "Will you stop interrupting me?"

"Sorry." Lucie did her best to look apologetic.

"Anyways. So with the first Hunt coming up soon, well ... I, er, I thought that maybe you would consider... becoming my parabatai?"

He looked up to her expectantly. Lucie didn't know what to say and how to say it. So she just went with a,"Yes," smiling broadly. Kayden mimicked her grin as he jumped up onto the bed.

"Really? You're not messing with me here?"

Lucie joined him as she got onto her feet as well. "No, I'm not joking. I would love to become your parabatai!"

"Yes!" He pumped his fist into the air and jumped up and down. Lucie's bed started squeaking dangerously. "I mean I've always thought of you more as my sister than as my cousin and you're this really incredible Shadowhunter - and Witch, too - but besides that, you know, we've always gotten along really well and we have similar fighting styles, I think, and-"

"Kay, stop!" Lucie had to hold him down by the shoulders. "You're going to break my bed!"

"I don't care!" He jumped off the bed in one big leap and onto the floor where he continued hopping around until he had to stop and hold his side. "Ok, now I care. I'm slightly out of breath," Kayden gasped between taking deep breaths. He was panting heavily.

"Oh, you're _slightly_ out of breath." Lucie came up to him, shaking her head, a big smile on her face. They were going to be parabatai.

'

The whole Redcliff family agreed immediately upon hearing the news. Lucie and Kayden were perfect for each other, that had been Aunt Nyunya's words. Grandmother Redcliff pointed out that Redcliff parabatai had always had a very powerful connection. Aunt Jodie and Uncle Matthew were ecstatic, as was Abigail when she heard the news.

The Council had been, too, ecstatic in its own way. Lucie was surprised that the Council had approved the parabatai ritual so quickly. Only a week later, Lucie and Kayden were back in Alicante with the whole family for the ritual.

And that was when it hit Lucie. She and her cousin were standing in front of closed doors. Doors that led to the Council chamber. In a few minutes, they would be standing in front of the _Council_, entering a commitment that would last until their deaths. It had all happened so quickly that Lucie hadn't had the chance to digest it properly. She was going to bond herself to Kayden for the whole span of her life. They were going to fight together, go wherever the other went, feel what the other felt. They were going to _stay_ together, forever. Lucie smiled to herself. There was nothing better in the world than knowing that Kayden willingly asked her to become parabatai, lifelong brother and sister and one entity.

Just then, he leaned over to her and whispered: "So this is what it must feel like on my wedding day. You know, with the jittery feeling in the stomach, the commitment for life and all."

"Why? You're getting cold feet?" Lucie joked though she had the exact same feeling in her stomach.

"Please. I was the one who asked you, remember?"

"And I was the one who said yes, remember?"

"So we're all good then?" Kayden asked.

"Of course!"

Then, the doors opened, and the two were beckoned forward. The Council chamber was dark for the most part, except for the very centre of the room. It was lit by rows and rows of candles. The members of the Council were standing in a circle, the rest of the Redcliff family spread out behind them in an outer circle. Lucie could barely see their faces as she and Kayden walked through the gap in the circles and took their places in the middle of the room.

Two Council members stepped forward placed fire rune after fire rune around Lucie and Kayden. When they finished, three brilliant rings of fire lit up the room. The two each had a circle surrounding them. A third blazed between their respective circles, touching the two edges.

They were told to step into the third circle, the one to join them. Lucie barely noticed the heat of the flickering flames as she crossed the edge of the fire circle and joined Kayden in one circle. Her legs weren't shaking the least. This was right. She knew it, and her legs knew it.

Both of them raised their right hand and interlaced their fingers, their _Voyance_ rune showing off to both sides. Together, without a tremble in their voices, they began to recite the well-rehearsed words.

"_Entreat me not to leave thee,_

_Or return from following after thee-_

_For whither thou goest, I will go,_

_And where thou lodgest, I will lodge."_

Those were old words. Old as the Nephilim. Lucie felt the weight of all the previous parabatai on her shoulders, felt the presence of all the previous Shadowhunter looking over her shoulder - bearing witness to this ancient ritual. It was through their might, that Lucie took the power to continue with even more vigour.

"_Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God._

_Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried._

_The Angel do so to me, and more also_

_If aught but death part thee and me."_

Eerie silence stretched between them as Lucie pulled out her stele. Powerful silence. The one that carries all the hopes and dreams of a great future. A future together.

Kayden turned his back towards her and lifted his shirt all the way up to his neck. They had agreed on placing the _Parabatai_ rune right onto the spine in between the shoulder blades. Because they'd always have each other's backs, as Kayden had put it.

Lucie began drawing the rune, her stele never leaving his back. She could smell his skin burning as she drew one line after the other until, with one final stroke, _Parabatai_ was completed.

It was her turn. Taking Abigail's advice, Lucie had borrowed one of her tops that had a low-cut back. From now on, she'd probably just wear that top and ones like it, at least at the Institute, so that everyone knew that she and Kayden belonged together. She took a deep breath when she felt Kayden's stele between her shoulder blades. It scratched against her skin as he drew the first vertical line right along her spine. Stroke after stroke, Lucie had the feeling of pieces of a puzzle falling together. When he had finished, she turned to face him again. They looked each other in the eye and Lucie was drawn into his hazel irises. When they touched hands again, a spark spread from one hand to the other, making the flames around them grow even higher. Lucie welcomed Kayden's presence in her mind, in her body, in her soul. They were one.

'

'

**A/N:**

**So this might just be the favourite chapter I've written so far... I hope you like the turn of events as much as my amazing beta reader Spaghetti Warlord does!**

**Disclaimer: All rights go to Cassandra Clare and J.K. Rowling.**

'

"_Now the door is open  
The world I knew is broken  
__There's no return  
__Now my heart is not scared  
Just knowing that you're out there  
__Watching me"_

_When the Darkness Comes by Colbie Caillat_


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

_Noble Blood_

'

Lucie felt good returning back to Hogwarts for the start of the new term. She had the dagger in her boot and _Parabatai_ on her back. Nothing could stop her now.

The rune was well-hidden from sight as her long robes covered it, but she regularly felt a reassuring tingle between her shoulder blades. It had taken a bit of time to get used to the bond, but both Kayden and Lucie had had their fun along the way. They had ended up testing out random things, like if they could communicate telepathically. They found they couldn't say exact words to each other in their heads but they could sense the other one's feelings and sensations. It hit them hard sometimes. Once, Lucie had stubbed her toe. It had hurt so much Kayden had come running towards her to see if she was alright. To him, it had felt like she had been stabbed in the foot.

Lucie was happy to see Sera and Delwyn again. Wyn was exceedingly excited: he had stayed at Hogwarts over the holidays and he had big news.

"It definitely can't be Malfoy. I overheard him talking to his two lackeys. He doesn't know who the Heir is, but apparently _his father_ knows a great deal about it."

"But his father isn't the Heir, either?" Lucie asked.

Seraphina shook her head. "No, the timelines don't match up. Lucius Malfoy wasn't at Hogwarts fifty years ago, he's not that old."

"You know him?"

Sera shrugged. "The Malfoys are family friends. If you could call it friends. Really, it's just the relationship between pureblood families. I was once forced to go to a dinner at Malfoy Manor with my cousins. Such boring people. For them, it's all about connections in the Wizarding World. Who knows the Minister of Magic, who has first class seats in the Quidditch League, and so on... but you shouldn't underestimate what's going on behind closed doors. I bet the Malfoys have quite a few skeletons rotting in the cellar of theirs." She leaned in closer. "Within the pureblood circle, it is well known that Lucius Malfoy is involved with some of the darkest Wizards of our time. Once, he was involved with _the_ dark Wizard. To the public however, he's so far been able to successfully prove otherwise."

Lucie tried to put together the pieces of information she was getting. "So if Lucius Malfoy knows about what is going on here, then this could very well be about dark magic?"

"That sounds likely," Delwyn said. "I mean, we're talking about a monster that petrifies and can also kill people. If that's not dark magic, I don't know what is."

"Hm," Sera thought out loud. "But who here could be capable of dark magic? One of the students? I don't think so."

"Perhaps one of the teachers? Quirrell turned out to be an evil one, didn't he?" Delwyn said.

"But Quirrell was Quirrell. You don't suggest Lockhart serves You-Know-Who, do you?"

"Maybe that's just it!" Lucie said. "You said so yourself, Sera! Lucius Malfoy worked for _the_ dark Wizard. What if You-Know-Who has a hand in the Chamber of Secrets? We know that he isn't gone completely from what happened last year. So what if he's returned to Hogwarts?"

Delwyn shivered slightly. What Lucie was saying sounded too reasonable to object. "But where would he be hiding this time around?"

"No idea." She shook her head. They were just throwing theories around. There was no way they could prove any of it.

"What still bothers me though," Seraphina said. "If it's really You-Know-Who who's behind it, why would he go after Lucie? Don't get this the wrong way, Lu, but you're not very dangerous. Sure, you're getting better at charms and spells, but nothing a dark lord would fear."

Lucie shrugged. "No offence taken."

Wyn cleared his throat. "I did look into that, too," he said as if he were talking about the best way to cure blackish broils. "You remember what was written on that letter? _No one can defeat the Heir of Slytherin. Not even the power of the Heiress._ These words stuck with me. I wanted to find out what was meant by _power of the Heiress_. So I went-"

"To the library," Sera interrupted him.

He glared at her. "Yes, I went to the library. And I actually found out something." Lucie was on the edge of her seat. She badly wanted to know what he could have possibly found out. Hopefully, there weren't any connections to the Shadow World. There couldn't be, right? "There is a myth about a Witch that lived very early on in Wizarding history. It tells the story of the Heiress to two worlds, the one to unite both worlds." She had a faint inkling in which direction this was going. "The book doesn't specify which worlds, but it presumably means the Wizarding and Muggle world."

"Of course," Lucie said quickly. "Those are the only two existing worlds."

"So you're saying that this Heiress was supposed to unite Wizards and Muggles?" Seraphina asked. "That would explain why the Heir of Slytherin is out for someone like that."

Delwyn nodded. "That's the way I interpret it. However, the myth is quite unknown. Nobody knows if there is actual history behind it... It could just be a story one used to tell children."

"But then what does the letter mean when it says _the power_ of the Heiress. Does the story describe any special power?"

He tried to recall the details as his sight turned foggy. "No, not really. Although it does say that the wand of the Heiress is made out of the materials of both worlds - whatever that's supposed to mean."

Lucie froze. This was getting uncomfortably specific. Her only goal now was to make everything about her seem as Wizarding World as possible.

Seraphina turned to Lucie. "What is your wand made of?"

"Oh, blackthorn wood and..." What other wand materials were silvery? "And unicorn hair."

Seraphina shrugged. "Nothing extraordinary. So why does the letter _to Lucie _talk about the Heiress, myth or not?"

"Exactly," Delwyn said. "If there should be an Heiress to both worlds, shouldn't it be a Muggle-born Witch in the first place?"

Lucie let her friends exchange thoughts back and forth while she put the missing pieces together to which they didn't have access to. Number one, the myth had its origins in the Shadow World and was misinterpreted by the Wizarding World. Number two, Lucie knew _exactly_ why she was called the Heiress. Number three, the Heir of Slytherin had to be sighted and had to know all about Shadowhunters and Downworlders. The only logical conclusions: One, Lucie had to find out who was sighted at Hogwarts. Two, she was in for more of a challenge than she had thought.

* * *

Finding out who was sighted seemed easier in theory than in practice. Lucie spent the next days, rushing out of lessons to quickly put on a glamour rune and strategically place herself in the hallway where hundreds of students would walk by. It had to be a place that - if she was actually seen - attracted attention. So Lucie started climbing up columns and dangling down window sills. She reminded herself a bit of Fabrizio, the tiny warlock. All that was left was for her to grow a tail.

The results weren't that helpful. The majority just looked over her. A selected few left their eyes set on where Lucie was hanging for two or less seconds before continuing on through the hallway - among them Harry Potter and Theodore Nott. There were exactly two people that showed a reaction. The first was Professor Vector who yelled at her to get down and hurry on to class. The second was a Ravenclaw girl her age with blonde, nearly white hair who waved at her happily before she skipped off into the other direction. Neither of them could be the Heir of Slytherin. They just happened to be sighted Witches, a trait that had been carried on from some Faerie ancestor.

It was likely that the Heir could perhaps see her, but he chose to not look at her - not to betray himself. So Lucie was left with nothing again. The theory about You-Know-Who being behind it still seemed relevant. But how could you find out where the darkest Wizard of all time was hiding? How could you find any proof to your theory?

The next best idea was to go and talk to the one person who - to Lucie's knowledge - knew all about the Wizarding and the Shadow World and had spent quite some time around Hogwarts.

"Fabrizio?" Lucie asked her warlock friend the next time they were in the Forbidden Forest together.

"Yes, tesorino?" He was wearing a bilious green suit this time around. Although green was the predominant colour in the forest, Fabrizio in no way blended in. Really, it was rather irritating to the eye.

"Have you found out anything new about the Chamber of Secrets? Did you see anything suspicious going on? Maybe even here in the forest?"

He shook his head. "No, the forest has stayed the same. Except for the fact that more and more spiders are coming into it. But I doubt that that is relevant, eh?"

"No," Lucie said disappointed. "Unless the Slytherin monster somehow frightens spiders." They both laughed, but the smile quickly faded from her face.

"What's wrong tesorino?"

"What do you know about the myth of the Heiress?" She looked him straight in the eye.

"Ah, you stumbled upon that story?" Fabrizio studied her with stronger interest than before.

"Yes, well, there is one existing in the Wizarding World about a Witch that is destined to unite Muggles and Wizards. But that is not the original meaning, is it? It's about uniting Nephilim, Downworlders and Wizards, isn't it?"

"You are quite right in your theory. This myth also exists in the Shadow World, it originated among Downworlders after the very first Witch, the Chosen One, died. She was the first to carry that wand of yours, the first to carry any wand. Born of the union between Faerie and Shadowhunter, with another kind of magic than the original Faerie and no pointy ears - she was the Heiress to both Downworlders and Nephilim. Wizard kind was prophesied to be the union of all worlds. But sadly, she was killed at a young age due to a family feud. Although she was already old enough to have children, as did her twin brother - and so Wizards and Witches lived on. But it didn't lead to unity in the Shadow World as you know the outcome nowadays." He sighed as heavily as he could for such a tiny being. "Several more of her kind, of your kind, surfaced throughout all the time between then and know. But none of them came closer to achieving unity. Some Downworlders even have the firm belief that there cannot be ultimate peace between Nephilim and Downworlders until the Heiress has completed her mission. As to why the Accords don't suffice for many."

Lucie furrowed her brow. "But there have been several unions between Faeries and Shadowhunters. And the children all turned out as half Faerie, half Nephilim. Why did that specific one lead to the creation of a whole new species?"

Fabrizio shrugged. "No one knows exactly. Maybe the stars aligned at that moment in time, eh?"

She laughed. "You really think that?" Her eyebrows raised to the top of her forehead.

"Well, really, what do I know?"

"More than me."

He squeaked: "Yes, that is true, tesorino."

"But then, these different ... _Heiresses_?" She looked at Fabrizio questioningly to which he just nodded. "These different Heiresses you mentioned, did they all come from the same line of Witches?"

"Yes, tesorino." He tried to place his hand on her shoulder, but opted for her underarm instead. "You are the descendant of that first Witch. Most of the Wizards and Witches nowadays come from her brother's line, but _you_, you are the true descendant."

'

'

**A/N:**

**Hey guys! I'm back... **

**Sorry for being away for so long but I had to get some things sorted. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the next chapter and let me know what you think :)**

**Thanks to all the new follows and favourites! And huge thank you to my beta Spaghetti Warlord for making my story better and welcoming me back!**

**I got new cover art for The Chosen Ones and the art is from the one and only Spaghetti Warlord! So yes, I have a very talented beta reader... Thank you so much :)**

'

"_We fight, we fall  
__Duty calls, it calls  
__Say we choose  
__But it's no choice at all [...]  
__Covered in our noble blood"_

_Noble Blood by Tommee Profitt feat. Fleurie_


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

_Breathe_

'

Lucie tumbled onto the floor. The stunning spell had hit her right in the stomach.

"Get up." Snape stared at her from a distance of a few feet. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, tipping his wand on his elbow. "You aren't concentrating."

She rubbed the back of her head as she scrambled to her feet. It had rapped on the stone floor when she fell. _Great, now I feel dizzy._

"Professor?" She tried to clear her throat. "What you're showing me helps defeat another Witch or Wizard, correct?"

Snape nodded curtly.

"But how do I face someone who knows of my Shadowhunter side?"

"Why do you ask? Do you suspect someone has found out about you?" He eyed her suspiciously.

Lucie shook her head. "No, not that I'm aware of." No need mentioning the letter. "Hypothetically. Just in case."

"Well, just in case... I'm sure you've already answered that question yourself."

"What do you mean?" She tried to figure out what he was going for.

"You said you wanted to know how to fight someone who knows you are a Nephilim... Easy, show them even more that you are one."

Lucie looked at him, even more confused. "I don't quite understand."

Snape narrowed his eyes. "Do I have to spell it out for you? You. Are. A. Shadowhunter. Fight like one. And like a Witch... Do you think any Wizard out there knows how to defeat a Witch that can handle both wand _and_ sword?"

She shook her head. That _did_ make sense. The whole Chamber of Secrets business was throwing her off track. She hadn't been able to concentrate on anything else for weeks.

Snape continued. "You should always be prepared with both. As I'm sure you have a dagger on you at this very moment?"

Lucie's eyes grew wide. How did he know that? "Just a measure of security. With the monster of Slytherin lurking around and all," she pressed out.

"I'm sure," he said. "Not a surprise to me. You Nephilim always carry metal around with you. As long as you don't slice anyone other than that monster... fine by me. Although..." he paused, a faint smirk on his face. "I wouldn't mind if some of those Gryffindors get a demonstration of all the things a Slytherin can do."

* * *

Over the next weeks, there weren't any attacks on the school. Lucie, however, received letter after letter, all with the same message. _Not even the power of the Heiress can defeat the Heir of Slytherin. Beware._

They weren't always on pieces of parchment. Sometimes the words were written across the bathroom mirror - only to disappear as soon as someone else entered the room. Other times, Lucie could see them splayed on the walls of the corridors in blood red letters - invisible to everyone else's eyes. Luckily, she hadn't been physically attacked so far. She hadn't been lured to the place of killing again. But with every day passing, Lucie felt danger approaching more and more.

It was like the Heir was only waiting to jump out of hiding at any moment, so she had to be prepared. She trained harder than ever; at the Institute, in the dungeons with Snape and in the Forbidden Forest with Fabrizio. What she yet couldn't figure out was what she would be up against. The monster of Slytherin was still a whole mystery in itself. Seraphina and Delwyn had joined her in searching for an answer, but had yet failed to stumble upon the right one.

When things started settling down a bit, everyone at Hogwarts was just waiting for the Mandrakes to be ready. Lucie and Delwyn had to make what he called the so far biggest decision in their scholastic path: choosing elective classes.

Lucie had no idea what to pick. She didn't understand what Divination or Arithmancy were supposed to be. Seraphina was no real help. The older Witch took Divination and Care of Magical Creatures, but the first turned out to be rubbish and the latter was boring as well. So really, none of them were a good choice.

Delwyn knew immediately what to do. Since Muggle Studies weren't any use for a career as a healer, that was out of consideration right away. For Lucie, it wasn't an option either. She knew enough of Mundanes already. As Divination turned out to be about prophecies and crystal balls, she crossed that one right off. No need for more of that. And since she didn't like the prospect of learning _different_ Ancient Runes that had no relevance for her future whatsoever, she just went with what was left: Arithmancy and Care for Magical Creatures. Her Shadowhunter knowledge would maybe even help her with the latter. Delwyn was in those two as well, so at least she'd have someone to annoy if she'd be getting too bored.

'

As May approached, Lucie began to wonder if the Heir had forgotten all about her - not that she minded it the least. The messages had stopped, the sinking feeling in her stomach had subsided. Things seemed to get back to normal. Everyone assumed, hoped, the Heir of Slytherin had stopped trying.

That weekend, it was overdue for all of Hogwarts to get their spirits lifted by a Quidditch game. Lucie - who to this point still hadn't quite got what the game was all about - spent the time in her training room. After she had cut enough holographic Demons' throats, she decided to go and look for Delwyn who hadn't gone to the game either because he had research or whatever to do. So she went on to the library where he would most likely be. Lucie wasn't able to find him among the rows of books, maybe he had gone with the others after all. Just as she headed towards the exit, she bumped into Hermione Granger, a Gryffindor in her year - the one Wyn was furious about for beating him in the class rank.

"Excuse me," the girl said as she tried to straighten her bushy hair. "Do you maybe have a mirror on hand?"

"No," Lucie replied curtly and went on. _Strange_. It wasn't like she had any makeup on that needed touching up. She saw Hermione walk up to the only other person in the library, an older Ravenclaw. Together, they turned the next corner.

Lucie wanted to follow them outside when she heard the voice again. Her senses kicked in and she tried to stay where she was or better, find cover behind the Invisibility section. But she couldn't. It was as if her mind was going one way and her body the other. She was pulled in the same direction the two girls had gone. Her mind did its best to resist. And then suddenly, a thought popped up. What if this was her chance? Face the Heir head on? See what she was dealing with? Maybe even defeat him and his monster?

That quickly, she had come to a decision. She was determined to fight this time, not avoid. The pull on her body grew stronger and Lucie obliged willingly. She turned the corner and - she was pulled back violently.

_Lucie?_ It was more of an impression than the actual word, but she understood it perfectly. _Are you alright?_ She leaned against the stone wall as she scrunched her forehead in confusion. Then it hit her.

_Kayden?_

_Yes!_

_Parabatai_ was tingling happily between her shoulder blades.

_How are you doing that?_

_No idea. I just got a wave of emotion from you. Wanted to see if you're alright. Maybe my concern is carrying the message?_

Lucie shrugged. Wait, he couldn't see or feel that, could he? _I'll talk to you later. Everything ok here._

She pushed herself away from the wall and turned another corner and froze.

The two girls were lying on the ground, petrified like the rest of them. Lucie whipped her head around and scanned the corridor. There was nobody else and nothing else to be seen. She had missed her chance. Or rather, she had been saved at the last second. Thank the Angels for Kayden.

Lucie ran from corridor to corridor in search of someone she could call for help. Finally, just as she came up in front of the teacher's office, Professor McGonagall came out of the room. McGonagall stopped in her tracks when she saw Lucie and looked at her questioningly.

"Miss Radcliffe? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with the others down at the field?"

"Professor," Luce panted. "You - you've got to come and see this! There - there's been another attack!"

"What?" McGonagall stared at her wide-eyed. "Show me! Now!"

* * *

Everything went downhill from there.

The next morning, the school woke up to no Headmaster. While quite a few of the Slytherins didn't hesitate to show their glee at the departing of Professor Dumbledore, Lucie was sceptical if they were better off without him. The teachers raised the security level. They were now accompanied to and from class by a teacher and there weren't allowed out of the common room alone. It became increasingly difficult for Lucie to sneak out for her training sessions - even though she could use her glamour. Looking for clues as to who the Heir was, became, too, more impossible every day. Since Seraphina and Delwyn didn't come any closer to the answer, they made a point of watching over Lucie all throughout the day. Lucie could just so convince Sera that it didn't make any sense for her to sleep in her dorm. Through that, she couldn't leave for the Institute on weekends. Her absence would have raised too many questions. So Lucie was stuck at Hogwarts.

Over the next weeks, nothing new surfaced. There was no new information. There wasn't another attack. But Lucie couldn't yet release the tension she was holding inside. Something was coming her way. It was just a matter of time.

Then, at the end of May, their History of Magic class was interrupted halfway through Professor Binns's mind-numbing lecture over the 76th gathering of the Wizengamot.

"All students are required to return to their common rooms immediately. Your Head of House will inform you once everyone has arrived safely." Professor McGonagall's voice rang magically magnified through the classroom.

Lucie looked around at her fellow Slytherins who all wore the same worried expressions on their faces. In silence, they made their way back to the common room. No one felt like chatting.

And then it was official. They were all going to take the train back to London tomorrow. Hogwarts was going to be closed. A girl had been taken into the Chamber of Secrets to never return. The school wasn't safe anymore.

Lucie didn't know how to feel. She would be returning home to her family, to Kayden. But although she didn't want to admit it, Hogwarts had turned over the year into her second home. She had friends here, close friends. She had fun, far away from the duties of her Nephilim life. Most important of all, she practised magic. Magic had become such a vital part of her life. Lucie knew she wouldn't be able to perform magic at the Institute. So was this the end? All the training with Professor Snape and Fabrizio for nothing? She would just go back to being a normal Shadowhunter? Lucie knew that that wouldn't be possible for her. Not anymore.

Certainly, she didn't miss the irony to the whole situation. A year ago, Lucie would have been glad if Hogwarts had been closed. She hadn't wanted to be a part of the Wizarding life. But now? This was her life, too.

"And there isn't anything we can do?" Lucie asked Delwyn and Sera who were sitting glumly by her side.

They both shook their head. Lucie couldn't imagine what it had to be like for Delwyn. School was his life. _Hogwarts _was his life. Where would he go now? And Seraphina? She said so herself that she was happy to get away from her pressuring family for the year.

"Promise me, you won't go out there, Lu," Delwyn said, gripping her hand and squeezing as hard as he could with his fragile fingers.

She stared at him. "Why would I?"

"Because..." he hesitated. "Because you're you. You don't think about something. You just do it. So promise me this time that you won't do anything rash!"

Lucie could see that he wasn't joking. He was totally serious.

"I won't, I promise." Maybe this was good, after all. Getting as much distance as possible between herself and the Heir. She wasn't stupid. Lucie wasn't going to roam the halls for the Chamber of Secrets and try to face the Heir once and for all. She didn't know what she would be facing. And she wasn't reckless enough to go into a fight unprepared.

"Good." Delwyn leaned back as he let out a sigh of relief.

Lucie rolled her eyes. Really, how careless did they think she was.

As she looked around the room, she noticed that even Draco Malfoy was staring gloomily into the green flames of the fireplace. Even he wasn't happy that Hogwarts was being shut down.

Since they didn't really know what to do, they went to bed early. But Lucie failed to fall asleep. Whispers were chasing through her head. _No match for the Heir of Slytherin. Beware._ She hoped it was just her own mind playing games with her. Maybe, yes maybe she should be glad she was leaving tomorrow.

Lucie must've drifted off at some point because when she woke with a start, all the girls in her dorm were peacefully snoring away. Her head was ringing and she found it hard to focus. The four posts on her bed seemed to be jumping in and out of place.

Suddenly, she had the irresistible urge to get dressed. And so she did. When she had put on her robes, she wandered out into the deserted common room. The green flames were flickering away happily. And they would still be when she'd come back.

_Come back?_ Back from where? There.

And so she went there. She didn't know exactly where there was. But her legs were sure of the path they were taking. And if her legs were so convinced, then there shouldn't be a problem, should there?

Lucie shook her head absent-mindedly as she turned corner after corner until-

Until she was there.

'

'

**A/N:**

**Hey everyone! Hope you enjoyed this next chapter... Thank you so much for the new follows and favourites! I find it ****really crazy how many people are reading! **

**Huge thanks to my beta reader SpaghettiWarlord who helped yet again to make this chapter better and who is just the sweetest person ever!**

'

"_I feel the pages turning  
__I see the candle burning down [...]  
__When will we finally  
__Breathe"_

_Breathe by Fleurie_


	20. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

_Invincible_

'

Lucie's head was buzzing. A thick headache was spreading from the back of her head all around to her forehead. This must be what a hangover felt like - from what she'd seen from older Shadowhunters, not from her own experience.

But Lucie hadn't drank any alcohol, nor anything else in that area. Maybe she had hit her head hard enough on stone to pass out. But why?

Her senses kicked in one by one. The ground beneath her was hard and cold. And wet, for some reason. Water was soaking through her clothes. As she regained the feeling in her limbs, she shivered from the cold.

Voices reached her ears. Two to be exact, both male. One of them belonged, unmistakably, to Harry Potter. Lucie didn't recognize the other. Its tone was cold, piercing, yet shallow at the same time, as if there wasn't a whole body behind it projecting a full voice to the outside.

She decided to stay lying on the ground for the moment. Maybe if she could figure out where she was and who else was speaking, then she could prepare herself for what was to come.

"I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while I was still at school," the cold voice continued, the words reaching Lucie clearer and clearer by the second. "But I wasn't going to waste those long years I'd spent searching for it. I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen-year-old self in its pages, so that one day, with luck, I would be able to lead another in my footsteps, and finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work."

By the Angel, that was him. That was the Heir of Slytherin, and he was standing mere feet away from her.

Her heartbeat picked up its pace. Lucie risked opening her eyes just a tiny bit. Most of her field of view was blocked by another person on the ground. It was girl in Gryffindor robes, her equally red hair splayed across the floor. She was incredibly pale and had her eyes firmly shut. Lucie recognised her face from the Great Hall, maybe she was one of the Weasley siblings? But why was she here? Lucie had heard that the Weasleys were blood traitors, but still purebloods. So why was she here with the Heir of Slytherin - in what could only be the Chamber of Secrets, Lucie realised as she let her eyes flicker around the room.

It was a huge stone chamber with rows and rows of stone snakes lining the main corridor. The floor beneath her was splashed with water. The Heir was a tall man who couldn't be more than a few years older than Lucie. He had dark hair and was also incredibly pale. His figure was strangely blurred around the edges. It was hard to concentrate on his features.

Now that she had stirred from her original position, Lucie got more and more uncomfortable on the ground. Her back was aching and her muscles were sore. All she wanted to do was stand up and get her body moving again. She scanned the girl in front of her again. The Gryffindor couldn't be petrified, her eyes were closed, right? So was she dead?

Lucie tried to concentrate her hearing on the girl and tuned out the Heir's continuing monologue. She was breathing, but only barely. Just then, the conversation shifted.

"What is a Slytherin, doing down here then? Unconscious?" asked Harry, to her right. She quickly shut her eyes - she was supposed to be unconscious, after all.

"She just followed Ginny into the Chamber, I presume, and wanted to see what the great work was all about," the Heir said nonchalantly. "Unfortunately, when I took my form out of the diary, she was already lying on the floor." He clicked his tongue. "I really would have loved to make her acquaintance."

Lucie did her best not to visibly furrow her brow. It hadn't been the Heir who had taken her here? And he wasn't that interested in her. Then why had he sent her threatening messages all year?

She slid a hand down her robes, moving forward inch by inch - not to attract attention. When she reached the pocket, her hand grasped for thin air. There was nothing there. Her wand had been taken off of her. Lucie clenched her teeth together. She wasn't carrying her stele with her either. Just her dagger, but she didn't want to reach down her boot just yet. This was going to be harder than she thought.

"I see someone's awake."

Lucie blood turned icy cold.

The shallow voice grew closer. "Well then, get up, will you?"

She yanked her eyes open and scrambled to her feet. There was no point in moving slowly now. Standing, she could see the Heir clearly. His features were sharper than before, but there was still a curl of hair on his head that kept flickering in and out of place.

"What is your name?" He asked her, his eyes fixing her on the spot.

Lucie looked at him in confusion. He didn't already know? "Lu - Lucie Radcliffe."

"Hm, I haven't heard that name before ... You are in Slytherin?"

She nodded quickly.

"Do you speak Parseltongue?"

She shook her head.

"Then how did you get here?"

"I-" She didn't know. Lucie looked around the chamber, passing Ginny's silhouette. "I followed her." She pointed at the Gryffindor girl. Maybe it was that simple. Lucie had no idea how the other girl had got here as well, but perhaps he would buy it.

He did. "So then you've come to see me finish my grand work?"

Again, she nodded. It was as simple as that. She would just follow the game he was playing at. He'd have to let his guard down at some point.

The Heir's lips curved into what one could interpret as a smile as he turned around and marched up to Harry again.

"Good. You've come to the exact right moment. I've just finished explaining to Harry here how I had infiltrated parts of my soul into Ginny so that I could act through her and continue Salazar Slytherin's mission. I'm nearly finished with my transformation, as you can see."

Ginny's face had turned an ashen tone. That explains it then, why she was here. But why was Harry here, too? Was he trying to rescue her?

"Now, Harry just asked why I cared so much about how he had escaped Lord Voldemort. Well, you see, Voldemort is my past, present and future..."

He pulled what Lucie recognised as her own wand out of his pocket and drew thin lines into the air. The shimmering lines arranged themselves into three words:

TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE

With one swish of his wand, the letters changed their order to form:

I AM LORD VOLDEMORT

Lucie gasped. Delwyn and Seraphina, these two little geniuses had been on the right track. This _situation_ she was in was going downhill very quickly. She found that there were far too many people in the Chamber of Secrets who shouldn't be here, including herself. There had to be a way to get back her wand and escape. All thoughts of actually facing the Heir head on, all thoughts of defeating him, were gone. This was the darkest Wizard of all time standing mere feet away from her. Sure, it was a memory. But it had already been enough to awaken the monster of Slytherin again. Who knew what else he was capable of?

She glanced over to Harry. He didn't look any more confident than she felt. But he continued on speaking and arguing with Voldemort. Lucie kept quiet. She didn't have anything she could say. As inconspicuously as she could, she edged closer and closer to the Heir. She had her dagger, she had one shot. Could a memory even be hurt by a knife? Lucie didn't have time for uncertainty. Her action just needed to distract him long enough to grab her wand.

Just then, music rang out from above. Lucie looked up to see the phoenix from Dumbledore's office gliding high above their heads. He swooped down and sat down on Harry's shoulder and dropped a ragged brown hat into his hands. Lucie immediately recognised the wretched thing as the Sorting Hat. What good could that be in this moment?

Voldemort must've thought so, too, since he began laughing - rather, _shrieking_ \- so hard that it echoed from all the walls. It was now or never.

Lucie dove down, grabbed the dagger out of her boot and lunged forward. In an instant, Voldemort whirled around and pointed her wand at her.

"_Stupefy_!"

He hit her with a blow that made her tumble backwards. While she could keep her dagger firmly in her hand, her wand flew out of his hands and all the way to the other end of the chamber.

Voldemort gaped at her. His eyes shrank to slits that stared her down furiously.

"You dare attack me?" he roared. "Then I guess the powers of Lord Voldemort, the Heir of Salazar Slytherin, will meet two tonight."

He turned to the back wall - which wasn't a plain stone wall, but a hundred foot tall stone statue that towered so high towards the ceiling that Lucie couldn't even make out its face.

Voldemort let out several hissing sounds. She could vaguely make out what was supposed to be the mouth of the statue slide open with a loud thud and reveal a black hole. Something was stirring inside. She didn't know what.

Panicking, Lucie whirled round to Harry. He was making his way to the other wall, his features displaying a mirror of her fear.

"Quick!" he cried. "It's a basilisk. The monster of Slytherin is a basilisk."

"And what the hell is that?" she yelled back as she joined him, her back to the wall.

"A giant serpent!"

"Of course it is," Lucie grumbled. What else could it be with Slytherin? The slithering from the black hole grew closer.

"You have to shut your eyes!"

"What?"

Harry gasped for air. "The stare of the basilisk is deadly. Don't look it in the eye!"

"Then how are you supposed to fight it?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he squeezed his eyes shut. Lucie quickly followed him, gripping her dagger more than ever.

There was a loud thud. A giant body landed on the ground. She could hear it moving in their direction. What could she do?

She didn't have her wand, but she still had her knife. She was a Shadowhunter, after all. A Redcliff.

Gathering up all her courage, Lucie remained by the wall. She could hear the basilisk hissing. With such a huge body, it must have huge fangs. The tail slithered across the floor, smashing a pillar to her left. The snake wasn't far anymore.

One breath in, one breath out. One breath in-

Lucie grabbed Harry and flung herself to the right, taking him down with her. Harry hit the ground with a rather unpleasant sound. Lucie rolled herself off and leapt to her feet again. The basilisk crashed into the wall head-on. However, it was quick to recover.

The tail came sweeping towards them. Lucie heard Harry scramble backwards. She had just enough time to jump up, over the thick end of the serpent. When it came hurling back, Lucie couldn't jump as fast again. She was hit right in the back. Lucie slid across the floor. Her dagger firmly in her hands, she was just glad she didn't stab herself while tumbling around.

She got back up on her feet, much slower this time. Her back was throbbing and pain was radiating from her rib cage. She might have broken a rib or two. Just as she was re-orienting herself, she heard the flapping of wings and scratching of claws.

"No! No!" Voldemort was shouting. "Get down there, stupid bird!"

Lucie gasped for air - a task that turned out to be excruciatingly painful. The phoenix - Fawkes, as Harry had called him - was attacking the basilisk. The serpent screeched in agony and its tail flailed around wildly. She took several steps backwards until she hit a stone pillar and crept behind it.

Then, the screeching died down. Fawkes flew away again.

"No matter! He can still smell you," Voldemort said before again pressing out hissing noises.

That could only mean-

Lucie squinted her eyes and looked up. Just in time.

She leapt over to the next pillar as the basilisk snapped at the spot she had been seconds ago and crushed the stone column right in half. Lucie took a look at its head. Blood was oozing out where she would have guessed the eyes to be. The basilisk was blind. He couldn't kill or petrify anymore with his gaze. They had to use it to their advantage.

Lucie looked over to Harry. He was pulling the Sorting Hat on his head. What was he up to? He should be running out of the way! She dodged the fangs of the snake and slashed at its body with her dagger while trying to get closer and closer to Harry. They had to work together if they wanted to kill the beast.

Just as she reached him, he yanked the hat off his head and pulled out - a sword. A long, shimmering, silver sword that was gleaming in a white light. Lucie stared at him in disbelief. He seemed just as surprised as she was.

"What now?" He yelled over the noise of the basilisk smashing yet another pillar.

"Do you know how to use a sword?" Lucie yelled back.

"Do I look like I know how to?"

She groaned heavily. "Just-" She jumped up to avoid being knocked over again by the slashing tail of the serpent. "Stab it with the pointy end and hold on to the other end as best as you can."

"I figured as much!"

"Good!" Lucie and Harry both dived to the side to not be hit by the basilisk. "Then do it! I'll distract it from behind." She got up and ran around the giant beast as if in a slalom course, dodging falling columns here and there.

"How come you're the one distracting?" She heard Harry shouting from a small distance.

"Because you've got the longer sword! You think I can kill this thing with a small dagger? Now stop talking and start doing!"

"How?"

Lucie took a careful breath in and tried to clear her thoughts. Where was the best place to stab it? Where it would actually be fatal? It needed to be done with one clean attack. The sword wouldn't go through the skin. That much she had already noticed. Her stabs with the dagger had been mere scratches for the basilisk.

"Harry!" she yelled back. "You've got to stab the snake through the roof of the mouth. It's the weakest spot. Can you do that?"

"I can try!" He didn't sound very confident.

Lucie ignored the sinking feeling in her stomach. This had to work. It just had to. Another crazy idea crossed her mind. Crazier than facing a giant serpent head on to attack its mouth. She had to distract, after all.

The Shadowhunter took a run-up and jumped. She landed on the low end of the snake's body. She rammed her dagger deep into its skin and held on, so she wasn't knocked off immediately. The basilisk thrashed around, giving Harry a moment to catch his breath.

Proceeding with that tactic, Lucie climbed higher and higher. With each step, she used the dagger to hoist herself upwards. She left deep cuts in the green flesh, but it still wasn't deep enough to draw blood. Finally, she reached its head. The serpent threw his head around, but Lucie was holding on.

"Harry! Now!"

In one swift motion, she pulled the dagger out and ran it back into the head with all the force she could conjure up. The basilisk howled and dipped its head back. Lucie rammed her feet into the base of its head which sent the snake diving downwards, his mouth wide open.

Harry stepped forward and drove the sword to the hilt into the top of its mouth.

The snake halted in its movements. Blood poured out of the mouth and all over Harry. He forced the sword out before the head crashed onto the ground. Lucie leapt off just as the whole body went limp.

They had done it! But it wasn't over.

Voldemort came walking over, still looking overly confident. Lucie turned back to Harry. He had collapsed on the floor. Blood was trickling over his arm where a basilisk fang had stuck itself deep into his flesh.

"The poison is more than enough to kill him," Voldemort sneered. "I'll just sit here and wait till his heart stops. Then I'll deal with you." He leaned against one of the remaining pillars.

"Harry!" Lucie rushed to him.

He was only able to utter faint mumbles.

"What? What are you saying?" She grabbed his arm. What had Wyn told her about deep wounds? She needed to stop the bleeding.

With one forceful yank, Lucie pulled the fang out. More blood was coming out of the wound. She quickly pressed her hand onto it and ripped off a strip of her robes with the other. As fast as she could, she wrapped the wound tightly and then continued putting pressure on it.

"Lucie." His voice was a mere whisper. "Go. You have to go."

"I'm not leaving you. Not after we defeated the monster of Slytherin together." She pressed out a laugh.

Lucie didn't quite know herself what was keeping her there. All she knew was that she couldn't leave without Harry. If only she had her wand, maybe she could try healing the wound with Magicae. She had to do something quick. Harry's eyelids were fluttering and she didn't know how much longer he could hold on.

All of a sudden, there was a rustling of feathers behind her. Fawkes landed on her shoulder. Something fell into her lap. Her wand. Lucie picked it up and wanted to point it at the wound, but the phoenix stopped her. Fawkes shook his head. He leaned over to Harry and wept. Tears fell from his beady eyes to the oozing wound on Harry's arm.

Harry let out a heavy sigh and relaxed in Lucie's arms.

"No, Harry! Stay awake!"

Fawkes leaned back and nudged her cheek.

"What?"

He nodded towards Harry's arm. There wasn't any more blood dripping through her improvised bandage. Carefully, Lucie unwrapped it to look at the state of the wound. Except there wasn't one. Not anymore.

"Fawkes? You-"

"Phoenix tears can heal," Harry said, his voice growing stronger with each word. He opened his eyes.

Voldemort had come to the same conclusion. "No! Get away, fowl creature!" Fawkes took flight again. "No matter, I'll kill you myself then." He pulled out Harry's wand and whipped it in his direction.

"No!" Lucie met his attack with her own wand. A jet of golden light streamed out of the tip and collided with Voldemort's green one. She needed to hold on with both hands. It cost her all her strength to keep her stance. But she couldn't let go. She had to hold on.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lucie registered Fawkes dropping Riddle's diary in Harry's lap. He looked at it in confusion until his eyes lit up. Lucie saw how he grabbed the basilisk fang that was lying on the ground and plunged it deep into the diary.

Voldemort let out a scream and Harry's wand slipped out of his hand. The jets of light died down on both sides as Lucie collapsed onto the floor. Black ink was squirting out of the diary. It sprayed all over Harry and Lucie. A hole appeared in Voldemort's image, ink bubbling out of the edges. It spread out until it ripped him apart from the inside. With one last scream, the image vanished.

'

'

**A/N:**

**It's been a while... Sorry for the long pause, life just somehow got in the way. I promise I haven't given up on this story (Re Guest: Thanks for the lovely review!) and I've already made plans for continuing with a Part II! After this, we only have three more chapters to go for Part I, so that's exciting... It'll probably take awhile for me to start posting the first chapters of the next part, since I want to get more done before I start publishing again - so there hopefully won't be another big pause :)**

**As always, massive thank you to my beta reader SpaghettiWarlord! Thanks for sticking around! And thanks to you, my lovely readers, as well for sticking around :)**

'

"_Thunder in my chest  
__Adrenaline in my veins  
__You better bring your best  
__If you wanna play my game  
__You want a war  
__You don't know what you're asking for"_

_Invincible by Ruelle_


	21. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

_Bad Dream_

'

After that, everything happened very quickly.

Ginny woke up with a start, frantically looking around the chamber. Both Lucie and Harry wanted to get out of there as fast as possible, so they kept the explaining to a minimum. As they were heading towards the exit, Fawkes flew in front of them and motioned for them to grab on to his tail. Lucie didn't hesitate, phoenixes were known to carry great weights.

And so Fawkes made his way through the complicated system of tunnels and turns, withLucie gripping his tail, Harry holding on to her waist and Ginny on to Harry. As they came to a pile of huge rocks, the phoenix flew high and caught a gap just large enough for the three of them to dive through one after the other. On the other side, they met the next Weasley sibling, Ron, who accompanied Harry Potter everywhere. Oddly enough, Professor Lockhart was lying flat on the ground next to him, his feet swinging up in the air. He was mumbling away indistinctive words and sounds.

"What's up with him?" Lucie asked as she watched him attempting a somersault on the ground and hitting his head on a boulder in the process.

"Memory charm backfired," Ron said as he embraced his sister tightly. "Come on, get up."

When he was done holding Ginny, he pulled Lockhart to his feet. Ron and Lockhart joined them in their chain holding onto Fawkes. The phoenix seemed to know exactly where to go. He flew them up a vertical tunnel and out into a bathroom. From there, he proceeded on through the vast hallways until he reached his destination: McGonagall's office.

The group scrambled onto their feet and all but burst into the room. All heads turned in their direction. Professor Dumbledore was seated behind the desk with Professor McGonagall standing by the fireplace.

"Ginny!" A red-haired Wizard and an equally red-headed Witch screeched out. They ran to her and pulled her into a firm hug. The two must be her parents.

"Wha- What? What happened?" Ginny's mother took in the sight of them. Lucie and Harry had torn robes, blood and ink splattered across their faces and clothes - though more so on Harry. Lockhart had decided to crawl around the room on all fours.

Lucie left the explaining to Harry and Ron. She was exhausted. Her head was slightly dizzy and she had the deep desire to lie down and sleep for days. Using Magicae was really draining her.

The adults' faces went from shock to disbelief to shock again. All but Dumbledore, who watched the scene with the utmost calm. Professor McGonagall didn't fail in emphasising how lucky they had been. Lucie couldn't help but agree. She had been the only half-trained warrior in the chamber, but still, she would have had her difficulties alone.

"What still bothers me, though," McGonagall said when they had finished their story. "Is why you, Ms Radcliffe, were down there, too?"

Lucie didn't know what to say. She was still pondering that exact same question in her head. Somebody had brought her down there. She couldn't have accomplished that by sleepwalking. The thing was, the one person Lucie had suspected of being after her, hadn't been. The projection of Voldemort hadn't made any hints about sending those messages and he had been more interested in killing Harry than killing her. For him, she had just been an ordinary Slytherin. Just then, the remaining adrenaline from the action downstairs left her body and it hit her: There was still somebody out there who wanted to kill her. But who could it be?

She cleared her throat. What should she tell the teachers? Since there wasn't a better story that came to her mind, she told them what Voldemort had told Harry: "I, er, I followed Ginny... When I,er..." Why had she been out of the common room? Lucie tried to think of a good excuse. "I couldn't stand it in the Slytherin common room anymore - so I wanted to get some fresh air. Then I, er, saw Ginny walking into that bathroom. Her eyes were all glazed over - and she didn't respond to my calls..." Lucie hoped that Ginny wouldn't speak against that story. But she had been possessed, so surely she couldn't remember. "So I simply followed her... When we reached the chamber I got knocked out... and well, you've heard the rest."

The Weasley's seemed to buy it, but both Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore kept on eyeing her suspiciously. At least, they didn't ask her any further questions.

* * *

At the nearest opportunity she got, Lucie excused herself from the room. She couldn't, however, avoid being escorted to the hospital wing. On the way there, she drew an _Iratze_ as quickly and silently as she could onto her arm with her wand. Lucie felt the familiar tingle spread through her body. Her skin heated up and she could feel her blood pumping faster through her veins, speeding up the healing process.

Just as she was pressed onto a chair by Madam Pomfrey, the heat subsided. Madam Pomfrey couldn't find any cut or bruise on her anymore that needed mending. Her ribs were nearly back to normal as well.

"Can I go, now?" Lucie asked impatiently. Her leg was twitching up and down. Although her limbs were exhausted and her body craved nothing more than sleep, she couldn't allow herself to lie down. She had to talk to somebody first.

Madam Pomfrey squinted at her. She was unsatisfied with her examination. "I'd much rather keep you here for the night."

"But there's nothing wrong with me!" Lucie shot up from the chair. "You saw so yourself. I'm perfectly fine!"

"Fine," the Witch said grudgingly. "But promise me to go straight to your dorm and get a good night's sleep."

"Of course," Lucie said quickly before rushing out of the room.

On her way out of the castle, Lucie drew a glamour rune onto her skin. The person she was looking for was going to see her anyways. She ran across the hill and into the Forbidden Forest. Lucie knew exactly where to go. She just hoped Fabrizio would be there, too.

And so he was. Fabrizio was dangling from a branch in his favourite clearing. The moon shone bright that night and cast his eerie light all the way down between the thick trees. Lucie could clearly make out his tiny form, this night clad in an orange suit. The colour of his suit clashed more than ever with his lime green horns and tail.

"Fabrizio?" Upside down as he was, he turned on the spot and came face to face with Lucie. "You won't believe what happened tonight!"

"Oh I believe it, tesorino," Fabrizio squeaked.

"You - you know what happened?"

"I might have ... heard about it from a distance."

"You did?" Lucie asked, astonished. How was one to _hear_ what was going on in the Chamber of Secrets from a distance? Anyways. She shook her head to herself. "Well, see, Harry and I defeated the basilisk, you know, the monster of Slytherin, and the Heir of Slytherin himself ... but turns out, it _wasn't _the Heir of Slytherin who was after me the whole time. This blurry projection of a young Voldemort didn't know anything about all the messages. That means, Fabrizio, that means-"

"That the person you've been fearing is still out there," the Warlock completed her sentence.

"Yes, exactly!" Lucie started pacing back and forth across the clearing. "I was thinking. It _was_ probably that exact person that took me into the Chamber of Secrets. I mean, it makes perfect sense. Pretend to be the big bully of Hogwarts all that time and then let the actual bully deal with me. I honestly have to say, if it had just been me alone down there ... I don't know if I'd still be standing here talking to you..."

Fabrizio stroked his horns. "That would be a very extravagant plan indeed. _Luckily_, it didn't succeed, eh?"

"Yes, well, the problem remains ... _Who_ made that plan? Who is still after me? I've tried finding out who is sighted in the school. But I didn't find anybody who could see me with glamour on and fits the, eh, threatening type. So ... Fabrizio, I need to ask you again. Did you see or hear anything suspicious? Anything at all? This whole mystery is driving me crazy!"

Suddenly, Fabrizio released his tail's grip on the branch and landed softly on the ground.

"I actually did see and hear something," he squealed.

"Really?"

"Yes, tesorino. Lately I've been catching up on the person who sent you all those letters and drew all those words on the walls. He's been quite a clever one, concealing himself for so long... He's also quite good with magic as he managed to lure you towards the basilisk two times, no?" Lucie nodded frantically. "And when he took you into the chamber, he managed to mask the parabatai bond long enough so your actions and feelings wouldn't alarm anyone at the London Institute... Yes, very powerful indeed." He turned his back on her, pondering away.

"Well, who is it?" Lucie burst out. "And do you reckon I'm ready enough to defeat him?"

"Oh I know who it is-" Fabrizio whirled around. A cloud wandered over the moon and with it, the light faded from the clearing. The Warlock's face was cast in dark shadows. "Me."

Lucie opened her mouth but no sound came out. What was going on? Silence stretched between the two. Enough time for the moon to come out again, Fabrizio's face a grimace now.

Finally, Lucie found her voice again. "You? You were the one who-" And then she realised it. "It was a test. It was all a test. Right?" She pressed out a laugh. "You were testing whether I could deal with the challenge. Whether I was powerful enough to defeat the Heir of Slytherin. _You_ lured me towards him so that I could defeat him!"

Fabrizio smiled broadly. But there was something off. His smile seemed more like he was fletching his teeth. To be fair, he was such a tiny creature, one couldn't tell properly.

"You're right, I was testing you. I wanted to see how powerful you really were. And now I think I've seen enough." Fabrizio stroked his horns again. "Anything left you want to say, _tesorino_?"

"What?" Lucie was back to confused. "Say? What do you mean?"

"Well, my Lucie, I have come to the conclusion that you're too powerful for my liking. I thought the basilisk would finish you off, but you got help. How unfortunate. So I guess I'll have to deal with you myself." He rolled back the sleeves of his suit.

"Deal with me? I don't understand!"

"This," Fabrizio gestured up and down her body. "Isn't good for business. You've come closer to becoming the Heiress your wand urges you to be than any of your kind before. You have more ties to both Nephilim and Wizarding people than any of the previous seven. I can't risk the Shadow World and Wizarding World actually reuniting... Bad for business, very bad for business indeed."

"But-" Lucie tried to find the right words. Her heart was racing. She had escaped one deadly situation to walk right into another. And this one was all her fault. She had trusted the Warlock too easily. "I haven't come anywhere close to reuniting the worlds! I don't even want to! I don't want to be the Heiress!"

"You're lying to yourself, tesorino," Fabrizio spat. "I see how you enjoy the power your wand holds, the power you hold. I can't let that power grow stronger, no! Sooner or later, you could actually succeed. You heard the prophecy, too, no?"

"But I don't believe in prophecies!"

"Oh, but I do!" A wild look had taken over his eyes. As if they were made of liquid green poison. "So, Lucie Redcliff-" He put all the taunt he could in those two words. "Time to meet your end. Well, you've already lived longer than quite a few of the other Heiresses. So no regrets there. Don't worry, I'll be quick." Fabrizio flailed out his hands. "You might have the power of the Heiress, but you're neither old nor trained enough to meet what I can do!"

He fanned out his fingers and shot a green ball of light her way. Lucie had just enough time to yank her wand out of her robes and hold it defensively in front of her. The coloured orb exploded at the tip of her wand. Little specks of light flew in every direction.

Fabrizio kept on shooting ball after ball of energy. Lucie did her best to meet all his attacks. But she grew tired, very quickly. She was using up all the energy reserves she had left for her Magicae.

It didn't help that she had to run from tree to tree, dipping down or jumping up to dodge all the attacks that she couldn't defend with her wand. Time was running through her hands. She had to do something. Quick. Something that would end this situation.

If only she could call for help. As she pressed her back to the next tree, Lucie reached for the spot between her shoulder blades. The patch of skin on her spine felt numb. _Parabatai _was still blocked. Lucie let out a cry of frustration as she conjured up the next golden shield of protection. It died down fast. Too fast.

She picked up into a run again, zigzagging between the trees, hitting the ground every now and then. There was nothing there that could offer even the slightest protection. Even the biggest trees crashed down and landed in front of her feet.

Lucie tried to let some of her Magicae rush through her veins and spread out along her spine. There it was. A faint tingle made her aware that some of the blockage had been lifted.

_Kayden! Help!_

She had no idea if it would work. Lucie had never communicated with him through the parabatai rune intentionally. The last time, he had been alerted by her feelings. Hopefully, enough of the blockage was gone to let a good deal of her current emotions through. After all, the amount of fear pounding through her veins was a lot higher than normal.

But what was she supposed to do if no one came? How was she best to defeat a Warlock much stronger and smarter than herself? It didn't matter that he was the size of an elfling. His magic was far superior than hers. The only thought that crossed her mind was to get as close as possible. She couldn't beat him from afar.

Lucie took one last glance at the surrounding trees. Her attention was caught by a tree to her right. One branch had an odd colour to it. It was _golden_. Gold amongst a sea of green. A grin spread across her face and she let a new wave of courage pulse through her veins. She could do this.

And so, Lucie spun around and threw a jet of magic towards Fabrizio. Gold and green collided between them and lit up the forest in a firework of colours. The trees that stood the nearest caught on fire. Fabrizio stopped for the briefest of moments - enough time for Lucie to run towards him and aim a Stunning Spell. He blocked it enough to not get blasted from the spot. But still, he gritted his teeth.

"You won't win," he shrieked. "You can't win!"

Lucie was hit by a blast of neon directly on her left side. As she hit the ground _again_, her shoulder ignited with pain and she could even hear the already tormented ribs crack at the same time.

"You're too slow. You're too weak. Your magic alone won't save you!"

Lucie crouched on the ground, gripping her chest. Her breath came in unhealthy rattling sounds. She prayed to the Angels that none of her ribs had penetrated one of her lungs.

Fabrizio circled her. His eyes just levelled hers. The edges of his mouth curled upwards into a malicious grin.

This was it. Lucie knew it. But she wouldn't give up. She would be going down fighting. She was a Witch. Maybe she was even the bloody Heiress to both worlds. But most importantly, she was also a Shadowhunter. A Redcliff.

"You're forgetting one thing, Fabrizio. I'm more than just my magic."

With one last cry, Lucie tore her wand up and shot the last of the remaining energy she had in her at Fabrizio. It wasn't enough, she knew it. At the same time, she reached for the dagger secured in her boot and threw it. She didn't have enough time to focus on her target. Lucie just hoped her dagger would land true to its aim.

It did. Not that Lucie had actually aimed for that.

She looked at the Warlock who had frozen in his attacks. His grin was still there, yet it had turned more into a grimace. He was still holding his tiny hands up as he collapsed onto the ground.

Lucie scrambled to her feet. She bent over his small form. Blood was pouring from the wound in his chest and soaked through his saffron suit. Lucie looked at Fabrizio's face and for a second, she thought there was that sweet little Warlock back that had befriended her. But she was wrong. That sweet little Warlock had never existed. She should have been smarter than this. She should have seen it coming. But she had been naive. She had been craving a friend who knew more about who she was and what her place in this world was.

And now that had led to her killing somebody. Not a Demon. A Warlock. A Downworlder. A Person.

Lucie's body trembled as Fabrizio let out his last breath in one loud gasp. He was gone.

By the Angels, she had actually killed him.

"Lucie?"

Kayden's voice reached her ears. Out of the corner of her eye, Lucie saw him as well as Aunt Jodie and Uncle Matthew and several more Shadowhunters from the Institute approaching. She couldn't lift her gaze from Fabrizio's extinguished one.

Not until she could feel Kayden's warm hand on her shoulder, did she tear her eyes away from the limp body. Instead of looking up, Lucie's gaze fell onto her hands. Her hands were full of blood.

Angels, what had she done?

'

'

**A/N:**

**Whew... again it's been awhile. Sorry for the late update. I promise this time you don't have to wait that long again for the next chapter, it's already on the way...**

**Thank you so much to my awesome new beta reader Storms And Stars! With just proofreading one chapter you've already helped me immensely and made me want to further my writing skills so much more.**

** Re: Jane Green and AshenMoon42: Thank you for the lovely feedback! It's always great to hear back :)**

**And thank you to everyone who's still reading! Thanks for sticking with me through the long pauses!**

**As always, let me know what you think and I hope you enjoy this one!**

'

"_Feels like I'm frozen  
__Nowhere to run  
__Nowhere to run, from here  
These walls are closing  
__Closing me in  
__Wearing me thin, with fear"_

_Bad Dream by Ruelle_


End file.
